
Class 



£:'n8 



Book 






GopyiightN". 

/ ^ / 5 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




THE FIRST PRESIDENT, INAUGURATED 1789. 



A FIRST BOOK IN 

AMERICAN HISTORY 



H^TTH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE 
LiyES AND DEEDS OF GREAT AMERICANS 



BY 
EDWARD EGGLESTON 

t\ 
Author of *' The Beginners of a Nation,^^ etc. 




NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO 
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



.1 



Copyright, 1889, by D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 
Copyright, 1899, 1915, nv AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. 

EGGLES. FIRST BOOK HIST. 

E.P. 8 



7^ 





NOV -5 1915 



S)CI.A414420 



PREFACE 



In preparing a first l)ook of American history, it is necessary to 
keep in mind the two purposes such a work is required to serve. 
There are children wliose school life is brief ; these must get all the 
instruction they are to receive in their country's history from a book 
of the grade of this. To another class of pupils the first book of 
American history is a preparation for the intelligent study of a text- 
book more advanced. It is a manifest waste of time and energy 
to require these to learn in a lower class the facts that must be re- 
studied in a higher grade. Moreover, primary histories which fol- 
low the order of larger books are likely to prove dry and unsatis- 
factory condensations. But a beginner's book ought before all 
things else to be interesting. A fact received with the attention 
raised to its highest power remains fixed in the memory; that which 
is learned listlessly is lost easily, and a lifelong aversion to history 
is often the main result produced by the use of an unsuitable text- 
book at the outset. 

The main peculiarity of the present book is that it aims to teach 
children the history of the country by making them acquainted 
with some of the most illustrious actors in it. A child is interested, 
above all, in persons. Biography is for him the natural door into 
history. The order of events in a nation's life is somewhat above 
the reach of younger pupils, but the course of human life and the 
personal achievements of an individual are intelligible and delight- 
ful. In teaching younger pupils by means of biography, which is 
the very alphabet of history, we are following a sound principle often 
forgotten, that primary education should be pursued along the line 

V 



Vi PREFACE, 

of the least resistance. Moreover, nothing is more important to the 
young American than an acquaintance with the careers of the great 
men of his country. 

The superiority of works of history in our time over those of 
other ages lies in the attention given to the development of the life 
of the people as distinguished from the mere recital of public 
events. The biographical method here adopted offers a great ad- 
vantage, by giving the younger pupil interesting glimpses of life in 
other times by means of personal anecdote. The usages of Eu- 
ropean courts, the dwellings and arts of the Indians, the struggles 
of pioneers in the wilderness, the customs of the inmates of frontier 
hou-ses, the desolations of the early wars with the savages, the home 
spinning and other domestic handicrafts, the stately manners and 
ostentatious dress of our forefathers, and many other obsolete phases 
of life, are vividly suggested to the pupil's mind, not by dry didactic 
statements, but in unforgettable stories of real people. This line 
of instruction is much furthered by the running comment of the 
accompanying illustrations. 

It has often been lamented that no adequate provision is made 
in a school course for teaching the principles of morality. Rut the 
teaching of abstract principles is generally unavailing to produce 
good conduct. In the preparation of the present work I have 
been surprised to find how abundant are the materials for moral 
instruction by example in the careers of our great men. The per- 
severance of Columbus, of Hudson, and of Morse, the fortitude 
of John Smith, of Standish, and of Boone, can not but excite the 
courage of those who read the narratives of their lives. No intel- 
ligent pupil will follow the story of Franklin's industrious pursuit 
of knowledge under difficulty without a quickening of his own 
as])irations. What life could teach resolute patience, truth-telling, 
manly honor, and disinterested public spirit better than that of 
Washington? And where will a poor lad struggling with poverty 
find more encouragement to strictest honestv, to diligent study. 



PREFACE. Vii 

and to simplicity of character than in the history of Lincohi ? 
It would be a pity for a country with such examples in her his- 
tory not to use them for the moral training of the young. The 
faults as well as the virtues of the persons whose lives are told 
here will afford the teacher opportunities to encourage right moral 
judgments. 

In the matter of illustrations, the publishers have shown a lib- 
erality without precedent, I believe, in the preparation of books of 
this class. The talents and skill of some of the most eminent illus- 
trators in America have been brought into requisition to lend a 
charm to the first lessons in American history. Should this ex- 
ample be generally followed in the preparation of schoolbooks, it 
may produce notable results : a general refinement of taste and 
feeling ought to follow an early acquaintance with works of real 
artistic value. The pictures have been made under the author's 
supervision, and are meant to be essential aids to the pupil rather 
than mere decorations. The younger the pupil the more must 
one have recourse to the imagination in teaching. Some of the 
pictures convey information additional to that in the text : the 
object of most of them is to suggest to the pupil a vivid concep- 
tion of the narrative. 

Perhaps the most novel feature of the book is the system of 
picture maps. To the untrained eye of the younger pupil an ordi- 
nary map has not much metining, but the beautiful and efi^ective 
bird's-eye views here first used in a schoolbook will leave a con- 
ception in the mind of a child distinct and ineffaceable. 

Of course, the mode of studying such a book may be what the 
teacher pleases. Brief suggestions for a topical recitation are ap- 
pended to each lesson Recitations should not be verbal repetitions 
of the text ; nor should they, in this grade, be precise and exhaust- 
ive. If the pupil is taught to give the substance of the narrative in 
his own words, it will make him assimilate what he has studied, and 
prove a valuable training in thought and expression. 



CONTENTS. 



I. — The Early Life of Columbus 
n. — How Columbus Discovered America 
III. — Columbus after the Discovery of America 
IV. — John Cabot and his Son Sebastian 
V. — Captain John Smith . 
VI. — More about Captain John Smith 
VII.— The Story of Pocahontas . 
Vin. — Henry Hudson .... 
IX — Captain Myles Standish 
X. — Myles Standish and the Indians 
XI.— William Penn .... 
XII.— King Philip .... 

XIII. — Captain Church in Philip's War 
XIV.— Bacon and his Men . 
XV. — Boyhood of Franklin . 
XVI.— Franklin, the Printer . 
XVII.— The Great Doctor Franklin 
XVIII. — Young George Washington 
XIX. — Washington in the French War 
XX. — Washington in the Revolution . 
XXI. — The Victory at Yorktown and Washington as Presic 
XXII. — Thomas Jefferson 
XXIII.— Daniel Boone .... 
XXIV.— Robert Fulton and the Steamboat 
XXV. — William Henry Harrison . 
XXVI. — Andrew Jackson 
XXVII. — Morse and the Telegraph . 
XXVIII. — How the Telegraph became successful 
XXIX. — Early Life of Abraham Lincoln . 
XXX. — Lincoln in Public Life 
XXXI. — Something about the Great Civil War 
XXXII. — Something about the Spanish War 
XXXIII. — Great Expositions .... 
■XXXIV.— The Panama Canal .... 
XXXV. — How the United States became larger . 



ent 



PACE 

I 

7 

12 

i8 

23 
29 

35 
42 

49 
54 
59 
67 

74 

79 
86 
90 

95 
102 
109 

115 

122 
127 

134 
141 
146 

153 
161 
166 
171 
177 
181 
186 
190 

195 

iq8 



Vlll 



^riANilC Ocr^:^ 





The Early Life of Columbus. 



More tlian four hundred years ago there hved in the 
old city of Genoa [gen'-o-ah], in Italy, a workingman who 
had four sons. One of these was Christopher Columbus, 
who was born, probably about the year 1446, in that part of 
the city occupied by the weavers of woolen cloth. Learned 
men have lately taken much pains to find the very house. 
It is a narrow house, and dark inside. The city has bought 
it and put an inscription in Latin on the front, which says: 

No house more worthy! Here, under hi 
father's roof, Christopher Columbus passec 
his boyhood and youth." The father 
little Christopher was a wool comber — 
that is, a man who prepared the wool 
for the spinners, or, as some say, a 
weaver. Christopher learned to work 
in wool, like his father. 




COMBING WOOL 



THE EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. 




At this time Genoa was a place of ships and sailors, going 
and coming to and from many parts of the world. On the 
beach he might have seen the fishermen 
launch their boats and spread their curi- 
ous pointed sails, such as you see in the 
picture. From the wharves of Genoa 
he could watch the ships sailing out to 
". "^ trade in distant lands. I wonder if the 
'^5_ * wool-comber's little boy ever dreamed that 

he might one day come to be the most famous 
of all ship captains, and sail farther away into unknown seas 
than any man had ever sailed before. 

Columbus was doubtless poor and had to work for his 
living. But he must have been studious, for he somehow 
got a pretty good education. He learned Latin, he wrote a 
good hand, and could draw maps and charts for the use of 
sailors, by which last calling he was able to sup- - -v. 

port himself when he came to be a man. At i^ ^ ^^S^ 
twenty-four years of age Columbus made /"./ ^^4^f' §Lj'\ 
a voyage, but he was at least twenty- ^' u J>«. ■.^'^'-^\ 
seven years of age when he finally became 
a seaman, and began to acquire that knowl- 
edge of sailing which prepared him to make 
discoveries. The seamen of that time did rtot 
sail very far. Their voyages were mostly in 
the Med-i-ter-ra'-ne-an, and they knew little 
of the Atlantic Ocean, which they called 
Darkness," because they did not know what was in it or 
on the other side of it. They believed that great monsters 







COLUMBUS LEAHNING 
TO DRAW MAPS. 



The Sea of 



THE EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. 




swam in the ocean, and that in one part it was so hot 
that the water boiled. 

Of course, they did not know that there was any such 
place as America, and they believed that Africa reached 
clear to the south pole. The only trade 
they had with Asia was by caravans, which 
brought silks, gums, spices, and precious 
stones from the far East on the backs 
of camel's. 

While Columbus was yet a little 
boy, there was living in Portugal 
[poar'-tu-gal] a prince named Henry, 
the son of the king of that country. 
Henry was a learned man, who 
thought he could find a way to get 
round Africa to the rich countries of 
Asia. He sent out ship after ship, until he had discov- 
ered much of the African coast. 

It was probably the fame of these voyages that drew 
Columbus to Portugal. From Portugal Columbus himself 
sailed down the newly discovered coast of Africa. Then 
he went north beyond England, so that he was already a 
very great traveler for the time. 

While the Portuguese [poar'-tu-gueze], in trying to get 
to India, were creeping timidly down the coast of Africa, 
with land always in sight, Christopher Columbus conceived 
a new and far bolder plan. As learned men believed the 
world round, he proposed to sail straight west to Asia, 
braving all the dangers of the unknown Atlantic. He 



PRIMCF HENi-Y. 



THE EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. 



thought the world much smaller than it is, and he supposed 
that he should find Asia about as far west of Europe as 
America is. He did not dream of finding a new world. 
As Portugal was the leading country in making dis- 
coveries, Columbus first proposed to find this new way 
to Asia for the king of that country. If the good Prince 
Henry had been alive, he would probably have adopted 
the plan with joy. But " Henry the Navigator," as he 
was called, had died long before, and the advisers of the 
King of Portugal ridiculed the plan, and laughed at the 
large reward which Columbus demanded if he should suc- 
ceed. However, the king secretly sent out one of his own 
vessels, which sailed westward a little way, and then came 
back and reported that there was no land there. When 
Columbus heard of this, he left Portugal, not 
liking to be cheated in this way. 

He went to Spain and appeared at 
court, a poor and friendless stranger. 
Spain was ruled at this time by King 
Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. They 
were very busy in their war with the 
Moors, who then occupied a great part 
of Spain. Columbus followed the court 
from place to place for years. But the 
king and queen paid little heed to the projects of this for- 
eigner. They were too much employed with battles and 
sieges to attend to plans for finding a new way to India. 

Most of those who heard of Columbus ridiculed his 
plans. They did not believe that people could live on the 




A MOORISH SOLDIER. 



THE EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. 



5 



^ 




^r' 



other side of the world, and walk 
with their feet up and their heads 
down. The very children tapped 
their foreheads when Columbus 
passed, to signify their belief that 
the fellow was crazy. 

In 1491 Columbus, whose plans 
were at last rejected, left the court, 
traveling on foot like the poor 
man that he was, and leading his 

little boy by the hand, 
stopped one day at the con- 
vent of La Rabida [lah rab'- 
ee-dah] to beg a little bread 
md water for the child. The 
good prior of the convent, hap- 
pening to pass at that moment, 
was struck with the foreign 
accent of the stranger's 
speech. He began to 
talk with him, and soon 
— learned of the - ■ I 

project that had 
so long filled the mind of Columbus. The 
was deeply interested. He had once 
been the confessor, or religious adviser, 
of Isabella, and he now wrote the queen 
a letter in favor of the plan of Colum- 
bus. The queen sent for the prior, and 





THE EARLY LIFE OF COLUMBUS. 



he persuaded her to bring back Columbus. She sent the 
great navigator a mule and some decent clothes. 

But Columbus, when he got back to court, still demand- 
ed such high rewards if he should succeed that he was 
again allowed to depart. He set out to offer his plan to 
the King of France; but now his friends again interceded 
with the queen, lamenting that Spain should lose his serv- 
ices. The queen sent a messenger after him, who over- 
took him in a pass of the mountains and brought him 
back, with the assurance that, at last, he would be sent 
forth on his voyage. 

Nav'-i-ga-tor, one who sails or directs the course of ships. Con'- 
vent, a house in which monks or nuns dwell. Pri'-or, the head of a 
company of monks. 

Tell in your own word.s — 

Where Columbus was born. 

What Columbus learned. 

What is said of Prince Henry. 

What happened to Columbus in Portugal. "^5f 

What happened to him in Spain. 

Place to be remembered — 

Genoa, the birthplace of Columbus 





MONSTERS SUPPOSED TO LIVE IN THE OCEAN. AS DRAWN ON OLD MAPS. 



HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA. 



II. 



How Columbus discovered America. 




About two hundred years before 
Columbus sailed, there arrived in the 
city of Venice [ven'-is] one day three 
travelers, coarsely dressed in Chi- 
nese fashion. They said that they 
were three gentlemen named Polo, 
who had left Venice many years be- 
fore. They had almost forgotten 
how to speak Italian, and at first 
their own relatives thought them foreign- 
ers and impostors. But they gave a mag- 
nificent banquet at which they all appeared 
^^ in rich robes. They changed their gar- 

ments again and again as the feast went on. Every robe 
taken olT was cut up and given to the servants. At last 
they took their old garments and ripped them open, and 
poured out before the guests a collection 
of precious stones of untold value. 

One of these gentlemen, Marco Polo, 
whose portrait you see here, wrote a book 
of his travels, describing the vast riches of 
Eastern countries, before unknown to peo- 
ple in Europe. Columbus had read this 
book, and it was to find a new way to 
reach the rich countries seen by Polo that 
resolved to sail partly round the globe. 




8 



HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA. 



In spite of the power which the King of Spain gave 
him to force ships and seamen to go with him, Columbus 
found the greatest trouble in fitting out his expedition, so 
much were the sailors afraid of the ocean. But at last all 
was ready. Those who were to sail into *' The Sea of 
Darkness " with Columbus received the sacraments and bade 
a solemn farewell to their friends, feeling much like men 
condemned to death. They embarked in three little ves- 
sels, only one of which had a deck over it. 

Columbus went to the Canary Islands first. Then with 
bitter lamentations the men took leave of the last known 
land, and sailed into seas in which no ship had ever been. 
Columbus tried to cheer them with the stories he had 
read in Marco Polo's book, of the riches of the 
great country of China. But he also de- 
ceived them by keeping two separate 
accounts of his sailing. In the one 
which he showed to his companions 
he made the distance from Spain much 
less than it really was. 

But they were greatly alarmed to 
find that, as they went west, the needle 
of the compass did not point directly to 
This change, though well known now, 
was probably as surprising to Columbus as to his men, 
but he did his best to keep up their courage. 

The weather was fine, and the winds blew always from 
the east. This alarmed the sailors more than ever, for they 
were sure they would get no wind to come back with. 




COLUMBUS READING POLO'S BOOK. 



the north star. 



HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA. 



One day the wind came around to the southwest, wliich 
was a great encouragement. 

But presently the ships struck great masses of seaweed, 
and all was grumbling and lamentation again. The fright- 
ened sailors remembered old stories of a frozen ocean, and 
imagined that this must be the very place. When the wind 
fell to a calm, they thought the ships might lie there and 
rot for want of wind to fill the sails. 

They were getting farther and farther away from Europe. 
Where would they find food and water to last them till 
they got home ? They thought their commander a crack- 
brained fool, who would go on to their destruction. They 
planned, therefore, to throw him into the - f»v4 
sea, and go back. They could say that, 
while he was gazing at the stars, after 
his fashion, he had tumbled over. 

But the worst disappointments were 
to come. One day the glad cry of 
" Land! " was raised. Columbus fell on 
his knees to return thanks, while the 
men scrambled up into the rigging. 
But it proved to be only a cloud. On 
the 7th of October another false alarm disheartened the 
sailors more than ever. 

From the first Columbus had pointed to seaweed, and 
other supposed signs of land, until the men would no longer 
listen to his hopeful words. Now the appearance of some 
song birds, a heron, and a duck, could not comfort them. 
The great enterprise was about to end in failure, after all. 




lO 



HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA. 



when, on the nth of October, the sailors found a branch 
of a thorn-tree with berries on it. At length a carved 
stick was found, and the men began to believe that they 
were really near to some inhabited land. 

During the night which followed this discovery no one 
on the ships slept. About ten o'clock Columbus saw a 
t fLM^e&im^ glimmering light appearing and disappear- 
ing, as though some one on shore were 
carrying a torch. At two o'clock a 
sailor sighted land. 

The morning light of Friday, Oc- 
tober 12, 1492, showed the Spaniards 
a beautiful little island. Columbus 
dressed himself in scarlet, and plajited 
the Spanish standard on the shore, 
throwing himself on the earth and 
kissing it, while the naked Indians 
wondered whether these men in bright 
armor had flown from the skies in their winged boats or 
had sailed down upon the clouds. The sailors, lately so 
ready to cast Columbus into the sea, now crowded about 
him, embracing him and kissing his hands. 

When the Indians had recovered from their first sur- 
prise, they visited the ships, some of them in canoes, and 
others by swimming. They brought with them a ball of 
cotton yarn, bread made from roots, and some tame par- 
rots, which, with a few golden ornaments, they exchanged 
for caps, glass beads, tiny bells, and other trifles, with 
which they could adorn themselves. 




HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA. 



] I 




The island which Columbus first discovered was a small 
one, which he called San Salvador, but we do not now know 
which of the West India Islands it was. He thought that 
he was on the coast of Asia. But where were the rich 
islands and great cities and houses roofed with gold, of 
which Marco Polo had written two hundred years before ? 

From island to island Columbus sailed, looking for these 
things, not knowing that they were thousands of miles 
away. Finding the island of Cuba very large, he con- 
cluded that it was a part of the mainland of Asia. 

Im-pos'-tors, people who pretend to be what they are not. 
Crack'-brained, crazy. Stand'-ard, national flag. Ar'-mor, h 
dress to protect the person in battle, usually made of metal. 



12 HOW COLUMBUS DISCOVERED AMERICA. 

I'ell in your own words — 

About the return of the Polos. 

What Marco Polo wrote. 

What Columbus was looking for. 

About his departure. 

His voyage. (See Map at the top of page i.) 

The discovery. 

Date to be remembered — 

1492, the year of the discovery of America. About how many hun- 
dred years ago? 

III. 

Columbus after the Discovery of America. 

Columbus was very kind to the natives. At one time 
a poor savage was captured by the sailors and brought to 
Columbus, who was standing on the high after-castle of the 
ship. The terrified Indian sought to gaia his favor by 
presenting the great man with a ball of cotton yarn. Co- 
lumbus refused the present, but he put upon the Indian's 
head a pretty colored cap ; he hung bells in his ears, and 
tied strings of green beads about his arms. Then he sent 
the simple creature ashore, where his friends were after- 
ward seen admiring his ornaments. 

At another time the sailors picked 
up an Indian who was crossing in an 

open canoe a wide tract of water 
from one island to another. This man had apiece of 
cassava bread and a gourd of water for his sea stores. 
He also had a bit of red paint with which to deco- 
rate his face before appearing among strangers, and 





COLUMBUS AFTER THP: DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 1 3 

a string; of beads procured from the white men. He was 
rowing to a neigliboring island to carry the news of the 
coming of the Spaniards. His canoe was taken on board, 
he was fed with the best food of the ship, and put ashore 
at his destination. 

Having got one of his vessels ashore on the coast of 
Haiti [ha'-tee], which he called Hispaniola [his-pan-ee-o'- 
lah], Columbus built a fort of the timber from the wrecked 
vessel and left here a little colony. 

But now he began to think of carrying home the 
good news of his great discover}-. In January, 1493, he 
set sail for Spain. On the 12th of January, when all 
were looking forward to a joyful return, a terrific storm 
threatened to wreck the ship and to bury in the ocean all 
memory of the great discovery. Prayers were 
said and vows were made, for the safety of 
the ship. 

To preserve the memory of his discovery 
if all else should be lost, Columbus wrote 
two accounts of it, which he inclosed in 
cakes of wax and put into two barrels. 
One of these was thrown into the sea; the 
other was set upon the stern of the vessel, 
that it might float off if the ship should go 
down. He hoped that one of these barrels 
might drift to the coast of Europe and be found. 

Columbus at length reached the islands called the 
Azores. Here, when the storm had abated, some of his 
men went ashore to perform their vows at a little chapel. 




H 



COLUMBUS AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 



and were made prisoners b}' the Portuguese governor. 
Having got out of this difficulty, Columbus put to sea and 
met another gale, which split his sails and threatened to 
wreck the vessel. He finally came to anchor in a Portu- 
guese port, where he no doubt felt some exultation in show- 
ing what Portugal had lost by refusing his offers. 

In April he reached Barcelona [bar-say-lo'-nah], a Span- 
ish city, and made his entry in a triumphal procession. 
At the head marched the Indians whom he had brought 
, — -.^ back with him. These were 

well smeared with paint and 
decorated with the feathers of 
tropical birds and with gold- 
en ornaments. Then 




}%§ci 



i( 







COLUMBUS 
RETURNS IN TRIUMPH. 



parrots and stuffed 
birds were borne in the pro- 
cession with articles of gold. Colum- 
bus followed, escorted by Spanish knights proud to do him 
honor. Ferdinand and Isabella received him under a can- 



COLUMBUS AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 



15 



opy of gold brocade. As a mark of special honor, they 
caused him to sit down while he related his discoveries. 

This was the happiest moment in the troubled life of 
Columbus. He who had been thought insane was now the 
most honored man in Spain. 

The rest of his story is mostly a story of misfortunes. 
The people in his first colony on the island of Hispaniola 
quarreled among themselves and maltreated the Indians, 
until the latter fell on them and killed them all. The 
second colony was also unfortunate. Columbus was not a 
wise governor, and he had many troubles in trying to settle 
a new countrv^ with , . 




m% 










unruly and avaricious people. 
An oflficer sent out to inquire into the disorders in the 
colony sent Columbus home in chains. The people were 
shocked at this treatment of the great navigator, and so 
were the king and queen, who ordered the chains removed. 
When Columbus appeared before Isabella and saw tears in 
her eyes, he threw himself on his knees, while his utter- 
ance was choked by his sobs. 




l6 COLUMBUS AP^TER THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 

After this he was not permitted to return to his colony; 
but in 1502 he made his fourth voyage to America, trying 
to find a way to get through the mainland 
of South America in order to reach India, 
which he thought must he just beyond. 
He was at length forced to run his 
worm-eaten vessel aground near the 
shore of the island of Jamaica [ja- 
may'-cah]. Thatched cabins were 
built on the deck of the stranded 
ToLUMBus IN CHAINS. sliip, aud licrc Columbus, a bed- 

ridden invalid, lived miserably for a year. 

One faithful follower, i\amed Diaz [dee'-ath], traded a 
brass basin, a coat, and his two shirts, to an Indian chief 
for a canoe, in which after horrible suffering Diaz reached 
Hispaniola. Meantime the men on the wrecked ship got 
provisions from the Indians in exchange for trinkets. Some 
of the men ran away from Columbus and lived with the 
savages. 

The Indians now got tired of providing food in ex- 
change for toys, and Columbus and his men were at the 
point of starvation. Knowing that an eclipse of the 
moon was about to take place, he told the Indians that 
a certain god would punish them if they did not pro- 
vide for him, and, as a sign, he said the moon would lose 
its light and change color that very night. No sooner 
did the eclipse appear, than the Indians brought him all 
the provisions at hand, and the Spaniards did not lack 
after that. 



COLUMBUS AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 



17 



Help at length reached Co- 
lumbus, and he returned to 
Spain broken in health and 
spirits. Queen Isabella, who 
had been his best friend, died 
soon after his return. Co- 
lumbus died on the 20th of 
May, 1506. He believed to 
the last that he had discovered the 
eastern parts of Asia. He never knew that he had found 
a new continent. 




COLUMBUS BEFORE ISABELL 



After-castle, a cabin built above the deck at the stern of a ship in 
ancient times, to enable the sailors to shoot down upon the deck of an 
enemy's vessel. Cassava [kas'-a-vah], a sort of bread made of the root 
of the tapioca plant. Gourd [goard], the fruit of a vine of the same 
family as the pumpkin, with a hard and woody shell, which is still used as 
a dipper or bottle in many parts of America. Can'-o-py, a covering or 
awning spread overhead. Bro-cade', silkgoods with gold or silver thread 
woven in it, or woven with raised figures. Avaricious [av-a-rish'-us], 
fond of money, eager for gain. 

Tell in your own words about — 
Columbus and the Indians. 
The voyage home. 
The triumphant reception. 
The colonies planted by Columbus.. 
Columbus in chains. 
His last voyage and shipwreck. 
His return and deaih. 

The pupil may be asked to write out briefly his impression of the useful- 
ness, the character, and the fate of Columbus. 



l8 JOHN CABOT AND HIS SON SEBASTIAN. 

IV. 

John Cabot and his Son Sebastian. 

The food eaten four or five hundred years ago was 
mostly coarse and unwholesome. The people were there- 
fore very fond of all sorts of spices which they mixed with 
almost everything they ate. These spices were brought 
from Asia by caravans. It was chiefly to get to the land of 
spices by sea that Prince Henry the Navigator tried to 
send ships around the southern point of Africa. Columbus 
had also tried to reach the " Spice Islands" of Asia in his 
voyage to the west. 

Now another Italian was to try it. This man was John 
Cabot [cab'-ot]. Like Columbus, he was probably born in 
or near the city of Genoa; like Columbus, he thought much 
about geography as it was then understood; and, like Co- 
lumbus, he was a great traveler. He moved to Venice and 
then to Bristol in England. 

The Italian merchants traveled farther than any others 
in that day. One of Cabot's long trading journeys had 

carried him into Ara- 
bia as far as the city 
of Mecca [mek'-kah]. 
Here he saw the cara- 
vans that brought their loads of costly spices on the 
backs of camels from the countries of the East. Now 
the people of Europe in Cabot's time, having very few 
printed books, knew almost nothing about these far-away 
Eastern countries. 




JOHN CABOT AND HIS SON SEBASTIAN. I9 

" Where do these spices come from ?" Cabot asked of 
the men belonging to the caravan. 

They answered that they brought them from a country 
far to the east of Mecca, where they bought spices of other 
caravans which brought them from a land yet farther to 
the east. From this Cabot reasoned as Columbus had done, 
that, if he should sail to the west far enough, he would get 
round the world to the land of spices. It would be some- 
thing like going around a house to come in by the back 
door. 

While Cabot was living in England there came great news 
out of Spain. One Christopher Columbus, it was said, had 
discovered the coasts of India by sailing to the westward, 
for Columbus thought the land he had found a part of India. 
When this was told in England, people thought it " a thing 
more divine than human to sail by the west into the east." 
And when Cabot heard the story, there arose in his heart, as 
he said, " a great flame of desire to do some notable thing." 

While Columbus had waited in discouragement for Fer- 
dinand and Isabella to accept his project, he had sent his 
brother Bartholomew Columbus to Henry the Seventh, then 
King of England, to offer the plan to him. What answer the 
king gave to Bartholomew is not known, for, before the 
latter got back to Spain, Christopher Columbus had re- 
turned from his first voyage. 

But now for this same King Henry of England Cabot 
offered to make a voyage like that of Columbus. As the 
Atlantic had already once been crossed, the king readily 
agreed to allow Cabot to sail under his authority. 



20 



JOHN CABOT AND HIS SON SEBASTIAN. 



In May, 1497, Cabot set sail from J^ristol in a small 
vessel with eighteen men, mostly Englishmen. Cabot sailed 
much farther north than Columbus, and he appears to have 
discovered first the island of Cape Breton, now part of the 
Dominion of Canada. He went ashore on the 24th of 
June, and planted a large cross and the flag of England, 
as well as the flag of St. Mark, the patron saint of Venice. 
He also discovered the mainland of North America. Cabot 
was thus the first to see the American continent, Columbus 
discovered the mainland of South America a year later. 
Cabot did not see any Indians, but he brought back some 
of their traps for catching wild animals. 

He got back to England in August, having been gone 
but three months. He brought news that he had discov- 
ered the terri- 
tory of the Em- 
peror of China. 
The king gave 
him a pension, 
he dressed him- 
self in silks, and 
was called "The 
Great Admiral." 
It is to be feared 
this sudden rise 




CACOT AND HIS TWO COUNTS 



in the world puffed him up a great deal. To one of his com- 
panions he promised an island, and another island he was 
going to bestow on his barber! On the strength of these 
promises, both of these men set themselves up for counts! 



JOHN CABOT AND HIS SON SEBASTIAN. 21 

That there were many fish on the new coast was a fact 
which impressed the practical Bristol people, though Cabot 
had no thought of engaging in fishery. He imagined that 
by sailing a little farther south than before he might come 
to the large island that Marco Polo called Cipango, and 
we now call Japan! He did not know that the far-off 
country he had seen was not half so far away as Japan. 
Cabot believed that all the spices and precious stones in 
the world came from Cipango. 

King Henry the Seventh fitted out Cabot with another 
and much larger expedition. This expedition went far to 
the north along the coast of America, and then away to 
the south as far as the shores of what is now the State 
of North Carolina. Cabot found Indians dressed in skins, 
and possessing no metal but a little copper. He found 
no gold, and he brought back no spices. The island of 
Cipango and the territories of the Emperor of China he 
looked for in vain, though he was sure that he had reached 
the coast of Asiii. 

Cabot's crew brought back stories of seas so thick with 
codfish that their vessels were made to move more slowly 
by them. They even told of bears swimming out into the 
sea and catching codfish in their claws. But 
the English people lost interest in voy- 
ages that brought neither gold nor 
spices, and we do not know anything 
more about John Cabot. / 

John Cabot's second son, Sebastian, 
who was with him on this voyage, be- _^i ^ 




22 



JOHN CABOT AND HIS SON SEBASTIAN. 



came, like his father, famous for his knowledge of geogra- 
phy, and was sometimes employed by the King of Spain 
and sometimes by the King of England. He promoted 
expeditions to try to find a way to China by the north 
of Europe. When a very old man he took a great interest 
in the sailing of a new expedition of discovery, and vis- 
ited with a company of ladies and gentlemen the Search- 
thrift, a little vessel starting on a voyage of exploration to 
the northeast. Having tasted of "such good cheer" as 

the sailors 

"^ aboard the 

ship, and 
after mak- 
ing them 
liberal pres- 
ents, the 
little com- 
pany went 
ashore and 
dined at 
the sign of 

the " Christopher," where the lively old gentleman for joy, 
as it is said, at the " towardness " of the discovery, danced 
with the rest of " the young company," after which he 
and his friends departed, " most gently commending " the 
sailors to the care of God. 

Car'-a-van, a company of merchants, or others, traveling together for 
safety. No'-ta-ble, worthy of notice. Ad'-mi-ral, a title given to 




JOHN CABOT AND HIS SON SEBASTIAN. 



23 



the commander of a fleet, and also in old times to a man who had per- 
formed some gi-eat exploit at sea. Towardness, forwardness. Count, 
a title of nobility. 



Tell in your own words about — 
Caravans of spices. 
The travels of Cabot. 
The news from Columbus. 



John Cabot's first voyage. 
John Cabot's second voyag 
Sebastian Cabot. 




V. 

Captain John Smith. 

On the estate of Lord Willoughby, in the 
eastern part of England, there was a family of 
poor tenants named Smith, who had a son born 
m 1579. They named him John. John Smith is 
the most common of names, but this was the 
.^S'^^' most uncommon of all the John Smiths. He 
was apprenticed to learn a trade, but he ran away from his 
master and became, for a while, a servant to Lord Wil- 
loughby, who was going to Holland. 

Like most runaway boys, he found the world a hard 
place, and had to lead a very rough-and-tumble life. He 
enlisted as a soldier; he was shipwrecked; he was robbed 
and reduced to beggary; and, if we may believe his own 
story, he was once pitched into the sea by a company of 
pilgrims, who thought that he had caused the storm, like 
Jonah in the Bible. This must have happened not far from 
shore, for he reached land without the aid of a whale, 
and went into the war against the Turks. There he killed 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 




three Turks in single combat, 
and cut off their heads, but 
Captain John Smith came near 
losing liis own head in the 
fight with the last one. 

The Turks captured Smith 
afterwards and made him a 
slave. His Turkish master 
was very cruel, and put an 
iron collar on his neck. While 

Smith was thrashing wheat one day with his dog collar 

on, the Turk began to 

thrash him. Smith grew 



angry, and, leaving the 
wlieat, hit his master with 
the flail, killing him on the 
spot. Then he took a bag 
of wheat for food, mount- 
ed his master's horse and 
escaped to the wilderness, 
and got out of Turkey. 

When, at last, Captain 
Smith got back to England 
with his wonderful budget 
of stories about narrow es- 
capes and bloody fights, he 
probably found it hard to 
settle down to a peaceful life. 
The English people were just 




"^. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



25 




CROSS-BAR SHOT, 

CLOSED AS PUT INTO A GUN 

AND OPEN AFTER FIRING. 



then talking a great deal about settling a colony in North 
America, which was quite wild and almost wholly unex- 
plored. Nothing suited the wandering and daring Cap- 
tain Smith better. He joined the com- 
pany which set sail for America, in three 
little ships, in 1606. The largest of these 
was called the Susan Constant. 

I am sorry to say the people sent out 
in this first company were what we should 
call nowadays a hard set. They were 
most of them men who knew nothing 
about work. They had heard how the 
Spaniards grew rich from the gold and 
silver in South America, and they expected to pick up 
gold without trouble. 

The colony was settled at a place called Jamestown. 
Soon after the settlers landed the Indians attacked them 
while they were unarmed, and the settlers might all have 
been put to death with the bows and arrows and war clubs 
of the savages, if the people on one of 
the ships had not fired a cross-bar shot 
— such as you see in the picture. This 
cross-bar shot happened to cut down a 
limb of a tree over the heads of the 
Indians. When they heard the noise 
of the cannon, like thunder, and saw 
the tree tops <:ome tumbling on their 
heads, the savages thought it was time 
to make good use of their heels. 




26 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 




JOHN SMITH. 



The people of that day did not know how to plant 
colonies, and the lack of good food and shelter caused 
the death of more than half of the James- 
town settlers. The Indians who lived near 
them had fields of Indian corn, whose 
streaming blades and waving tassels were 
a strange sight to Englishmen. When at 
last the corn was ripe, Captain John 
Smith set sail in a small boat and traded 
a lot of trinkets to the Indians for corn, 
and so saved the lives of many of the people. 
The English thought America was only a narrow strip 
of land. They were still looking for a way to India, as 
Columbus had looked for one more than a hundred years 
before. The King of England had told them to explore 
any river coming from the northwest. Smith therefore 
set out to sail up the little Chickahom'iny River to find 
the Pacific Ocean, not knowing that this 
ocean was nearly three thousand miles away. 

The daring captain left his two 
men in charge of the boat while he 
went on farther. The Indians 
killed the men and then pur- 
sued Smith. Smith had taken 
an Indian prisoner, and he 
saved himself by putting this 
prisoner between him and his 
enemies. But the Indians caught 
Smith after he had fled into a 




SMITH FIGHTS THE INDIANS. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



27 



swamp, where he sank up to liis waist in the mud, so 
that he could neither fight nor run. He made friends with 
the head Indian of the party by giving him a pocket 
compass and trying to explain its use. 

As all the Indians had a great curiosity to see a white 
man. Smith was marched from one Indian village to an- 
other; but he was treated with a great deal of respect. 
Perhaps the Indians thought that men who sailed in big 
canoes and discharged guns that blazed and smoked and 
made a noise like thunder and knocked the trees down, 
must have some mysterious power. But they also thought 
that if they could persuade the white people to give them 
some big guns they could easily conquer all the Indian 
tribes with which they were at war. 

The Indians surrounded Smith with curious charms by 
way of finding out whether he was friendly to them or 
not. They fed him very well; but Smith, who was as igno- 
rant of Indians as they were of 
white people, thought that they 
were fattening him to eat him, 
so he did not have much appetite. 

Powhatan [pow-ha-tan'] was 
the name of the great chief of 
these Indians. This chief set 
Smith free. He sent some men 
along with him on his return to Jamestown to bring back 
two cannons and a grindstone in exchange for the prisoner; 
but the Indians found these things rather too heavy to carry, 
and they were forced to return with nothing but trinkets. 




28 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

Captain Smith seems to have been the best man to 
control the unruly settlers and manage the Indians. The 
people in England who had sent out this colony thought 
they could make the chief, Powhatan, friendly by send- 
ing him presents. They sent him a crown, a wash basin, 
and a bedstead, also a red robe, and other things quite un- 
necessary to a wild Indian. But when Powhatan for the 
first time in his life had a bedstead and a wash basin and 
a red gown, he thought himself so important that he 
would not sell corn to the settlers, who were in danger 
of starving. Captain Smith, however, showed him some 
blue glass beads, pretending that he could not sell them 
because they were made of some substance like the sky, 
and were to be worn only by the greatest princes. Pow- 
hatan became Ka]f crazy to get these precious jewels, and 
Smith bought a large boat-load of corn for a pound or two 
of beads. 

Ap-pren'-ticed, bound to serve a master in order to learn a trade. 
Pil'-griiii, a traveler going to visit some holj' place. Single com- 
bat, a duel, a fight between two men only. Ex-plore', to visit and 
examine a countiy before unknown or little known. Un-ex-plored', 
not yet visited or examined by civilized people. Trin'-ket, a toy ; some- 
thing of small value. 

Tell in your own word.s — 

What you can remember of Captain Smith's curious adventures 

before he went to Turkey. 
His adventures in the war with the Turks. 
His escape from slavery. 
His captivity among the Indians. 

Date and place to be remembered: First English colony settled in 
America, at Jamesto^A^n, in the year 1607. 



MORE ABOUT CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



29 



VI. 

More about Captain John Smith. 

The two best things about Captain John Smith were, 
that he was never idle and he never gave up. He 
was a good man to have in a colony, for he was 
always trying to find out something new 
or to accomplish some great 
thing. He had not found a 
way to China in the swamps 
on the Chickahominy Riv- 
er; he had only found a 
mudhole, and got him- 
self captured by the In 
dians. But 





30 MORE ABOUT CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

he thought he might find the Pacific Ocean by 

saiHng up the Chesapeake [ches'-a- 

peak] Bay. So he went twice 

up this bay, exploring at last to 

the very head of it. Of course, 

he did not find a Avay into the 

Pacific Ocean. We know well 

enough nowadays that China is 

not anywhere in the neighborhood 

of Baltimore. But Smith made a 

good map of the great bay, and he 

-"'' bought corn from the Indians, and so kept 

the colony alive. This was better than finding a way 

to China, if he had only known it. 

In living in an open boat and sailing among Indians that 
were very susj^icious and unfriendly. Smith and his men 
had to suffer many hardships. They were sometimes nearly 
wrecked by storms, and once when their sail had been torn 
to pieces they patched it with the shirts off their backs. 
Their bread was spoiled by the splashing of the salt water, 
and they suffered so much from thirst that at one time 
they would have been willing to give a barrel of gold, if 
they had only had it, for a drink of puddle water. Some- 
times, when sleeping on the ground, they got so cold that 
they were forced to get up in the night and move their 
fire, so that they could lie down on the warm earth where 
the fire had been. 

At one place the Indians shot arrows at them from the 
trees. Then they tried to get the Englishmen to come on 



MORE ABOUT CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



31 



shore by dancing with baskets in their hands. Captain 
Smith says that he felt sure they had nothing in their 
baskets but villainy. So he had his men fire off their 
guns. The noise of the guns so frightened the savages 
that they all dropped to the ground and then fled into the 
woods. Smith and his men now ventured ashore and left 
presents of beads, little bells, and looking-glasses in their 
wigwams. Pleased with these things, the Indians became 
friendly and fell to trading. 

Once, when many of Captain Smith's men were ill, the 
Indians attacked him. Smith put his sick men under 
a tarpaulin, and mounted their hats on sticks among his 
well men, so that 
the boat appeared 
to have its full 
force. Having 

procured Indian 
shields of wicker- 
work. Captain 
Smith put them 
along the side of 
his boat, so as to 
fight from behind 
them. But he generally 
made friends with the In- 
dian tribes, and he came back to Jamestown with plenty 
of corn and furs. 

Powhatan, the greatest of the Indian chiefs, wanted to 
get the arms of the white men. Muskets, swords, and pis- 




SMITH AND HIS MEN IN CAMP. 



32 



MORE ABOUT CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



tols were now and then stolen by the Indians, and Cap- 
tain Smith tried to put a stop to this thievery. Two In- 
dians who were brothers stole a pistol. They were cap- 
tured, and one of them was put into prison, while the other 
was sent to get the pistol. The one in the prison was 
allowed a fire of charcoal, to keep him from freezing. 
When his brother came back the prisoner was found 

smothered by the gas 
from the charcoal fire. 
The other poor fellow was 
heartbroken ; but Captain 
Smith succeeded in reviv- 
ing the one that had been 
smothered. From this the 
Indians concluded that he 
was not only a great brave, 
but a great medicine man 
as well, who could bring 
dead people to life. 

At another time an 
Indian stole a bag of 
gunpowder, which was a 
thing of wonder to the 
savages. He also stole a 
piece of armor at the same time. He 
had seen white men dry their powder when wet by put- 
ting it into a piece of armor and holding it over the 
fire. He tried to do the same thing; but the fire was 
too hot for the powder, and the Indian was treated to 




MORE ABOUT CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 33 

a very great surprise. This terrified the savages for a 
time. 

In 1609 there were many newcomers, and Captain 
Smitli's enemies got control of the colony. They sent 
Smith home, and he never saw Virginia again. 

Captain Smith afterwards sailed on a voyage to New 
England in 1614. While his men caught and salted fish to 
pay for the expense of the voyage, Smith sailed in an open 
boat along the New England coast. He traded with the 
Indians, giving them beads and other trinkets for furs. He 
also made the first good map of the coast. After he had 
returned to England with furs. Hunt, who was captain of 
his second ship, coaxed twenty-four Indians on board and 
then sailed away with them to Spain. Here he made sale 
of his shipload of salted fish, and began to sell the poor 
Indians for slaves. Some good monks, finding out what he 
was doing, stopped him and took the Indians into their con- 
vent to make Christians of them. One of these Indians, 
named Squanto [squon'-to], afterwards found his way to 
England, and from there was taken back to America. 

Captain Smith tried very hard to persuade English peo- 
ple to plant a colony in New England. He finally set out 
with only sixteen men to begin a settlement there. He had 
made friends with the New England Indians, and he was 
sure that with a few men he could still succeed in planting 
a colony. But he had very bad luck. He first lost the 
masts of his vessels in a storm. He returned to England 
again and set sail in a smaller ship. He was then chased 
by a pirate vessel. Smith found, on hailing this ship, that 



34 MORE ABOUT CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 

some of the men on board had been soldiers under him in 
the Turkish wars. They proposed to him to be their cap- 
tain, but he did not want to command such rogues. 

Smith's Httle vessel had no sooner got away from these 
villains, than he was chased by a French ship. He had to 
threaten to blow up his ship to get his men to fight. He 
escaped again, but the next time he was met by a fleet of 
French privateers. They made Smith come aboard one of 
their vessels to show his papers. After they had got him 
out of his ship they held him prisoner and took possession of 
his cargo. They afterwards agreed to let him have his vessel 
again, as he was still determined to sail to New England ; 
but his men wanted to turn back; so, while Smith was on 
the French ship, his own men ran away with his vessel and 
got back to England. Thus his plan for a colony failed. 

Smith spent his summer in the French fleet. When the 
French privateers were fighting with an English vessel they 
made Smith a prisoner in the cabin ; but when they fought 
with Spanish ships they would put Smith at the guns and 
make him fight with them. Smith reached England at last, 
and had the satisfaction of having some of his runaway sail- 
ors put into prison. He never tried to plant another col- 
ony, though he was very much pleased with the success of 
the Plymouth colony which settled in New England a few 
years later than this. This brave, roving, fighting, boast- 
ing captain died in 163 1, when he was fifty-two years old. 

Vil'-lain-y, wickedness. Tar-pau'-lin, waterproof canvas for 
covering goods. "Wig'-wam, an Indian house. "Wieker^/vork, 
woven of twigs, like a basket. Piece of armor, one of the plates for- 



MORE ABOUT CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 35 

merly worn on the breast, back, or other part of a soldier for protection. 
Pi'-rate, a sea robber. Pri-va-teer', a war ship belonging to private 
owners, with authority from a government to capture the vessels of an 
enemy. Medicine man, a priest and doctor among the Indians who 
pretends to work by charms. 

Tell what you can about — 

Captain Smith in Chesapeake Bay. 

Captain Smith's dealings with the Indians. 

The Indians and the gunpowder. 

Captain Smith's attempt to settle New England. 



vn. 
The Story of Pocahontas. 

While Captain John Smith was a prisoner among the 
Indians of Powhatan's tribe, he made the acquaintance of 
that chief's daughter, Pocahontas [po-ka-hon'-tas], a Httle 
girl of ten or twelve years of age, with whom he was very 
much pleased. Years afterwards, h^ said that Powhatan 
had at one time determined to put him to death ; but when 
Captain Smith's head was laid upon some stones, and 
Indians stood ready to beat out his brains, Pocahontas laid 
her head on his, so that they could not kill Captain Smith 
without striking her; seeing which, Powhatan let him live. 
Captain Smith said nothing about this occurrence in the 
first accounts of his captivity^ and many people think that 
it never happened. 

But it is certain that, whether Pocahontas saved his 
life at this time or not, he was much attached to her, and 
she became very fond of going to Jamestown, where she 



36 



THE STORY OF POCAHONTASo 



played with the boys in the street. When the settlers 
were in danger of starving, she brought them food. When 

a messenger was sent 
from Jamestown to 
carry an important 
message to Captain 
Smith, then in Pow- 
hatan's country, she 
hid the man, and got 
him through in spite 
of Powhatan's desire 
to kill him. When 
the Indians intend- 
ed to kill Captain 
Smith, she went to 
his tent at night and 
gave him warning. 
Captain Smith of- 
fered her trinkets as 
a reward, but she 
refused them, with 
tears in her eyes, 
saying that Powha- 
tan would kill her if he knew of her coming there. These 
are the stories told of her in Captain Smith's history. 
And when a number of white men then in the Indian 
country were put to death, she saved the life of a white 
boy named Henry Spelman by sending him away. 

When Captain Smith had been in the colony two years. 




POCAHONTAS CARRIES VENISON TO JAMESTOV 



THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS. -^^J 

ships came from London with many hundreds of people. 
The ships that brought this company to Jamestown in 
1609 were under the command of men that were enemies 
of Captain Smith, who had come to be governor of the 
colony. These men resolved to depose John Smith, so 
as to get the government of Jamestown into their own 
hands. Smith, having been injured by an explosion of 
gunpowder, consented to go back to England. His ene- 
mies sent charges against him. One of these charges was 
that he wished to marry Pocahontas, who was now grow- 
ing up, and thus to get possession of the colony b}' claim- 
ing it for the daughter of Powhatan, whom the English 
regarded as a kind of king. 

The colony had every reason to be sorry that Captain 
Smith was sent away. The men left in charge managed 
badly, Powhatan ceased to be friendly, and his little daugh- 
ter did not come to see the English people any more. 
The people of Jamestown were now so afraid of the In- 
dians that they dared not venture outside the town. Soon 
all their food was gone, and they had eaten up their horses. 
Some of the people were killed by the Indians ; some fled 
in one of the ships and became pirates; and great num- 
bers of them died of hunger. 

Ships arrived at last, bringing help to the colony. 
Under one governor and another Jamestown suffered many 
troubles from sickness and from the Indians. There was in 
the colony a sea captain named Argall, who thought that, 
if he could get Pocahontas into his power, her father, the 
great chief Powhatan, might be persuaded to be peaceable. 



;8 



THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS. 



Pocahontas was by this time a young woman of about 
eighteen. She was visiting an old chief named Japazaws, 
who Hved on the Potomac River. Argall was trading with 
the Indians at Japazaws's town. He told Japazaws that, if 
he would bring Pocahontas on board his ship, he would 
give him a copper kettle. Every Indian wanted to have a 
copper kettle, of all things. Japazaws and his wife, pre- 
tending that 
^ they wished 
to see the 
vessel, coaxed 
Pocahontas to 
go with them. 
Argall refused 
to let her go 
ashore again, 
and carried her 
to Jamestown 
a prisoner. 

Here she 
stayed a year. 

The English people in Jamestown refused to give her up 
unless Powhatan would return some guns which the In- 
dians had taken. There was an Englishman living at 
Jamestown, named John Rolfe, who fell in love with Poca- 
hontas, and proposed to marry her. When word was sent 
to Powhatan of this, he readily agreed to the marriage, and 
an old uncle and two brothers of Pocahontas went down 
to Jamestown to attend the wedding. Pocahontas, having 




POCAHONTAS TAKEN PRISONER. 



THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS. 



39 



been instructed in the Christian rehgion, was baptized in 
the little church, and married to Rolfe in 1614. Her real 
name was Matoax, but her father called her Pocahontas. 
When she was baptized, she took the name of Rebecca. 




THE WEDDING OF POCAHONTAS. 



The marriage of Pocahontas brought peace with the 
Indians. In 1616, with her little baby boy, Pocahontas 
was taken to England. Here she was called "the Lady 
Rebecca," and treated with great respect as the daughter 
of a king. 

The people at Jamestown had told Pocahontas that John 
Smith was dead. When she saw him alive in England, she 



40 THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS. 

was very much offended. She fell into such a pout that for 
some time she would not speak to anybody. Then she 
announced her intention of calling Captain Smith her father, 
after the Indian plan of adoption. 

She was greatly petted by the king and queen and all 
the great people. The change from a smoky bark hut 
to high life "in England must have been very great, but 
she surprised everybody by the quickness with which 
she learned to behave rightly in any company. She was 
much pleased with England, and was sorry to go back. 
When she was ready to sail, she was attacked by small- 
pox, and died. 

Her little boy was now left in England. Captain Argall, 
who had made Pocahontas prisoner, was now made Gov- 
ernor of Virginia. He was a very dishonest man, and he 
and some partners of his appear to have had a scheme to 
get possession of the colony by claiming it for the child of 
Pocahontas as the grandson of "King Powhatan." Argall 
sent word to England that the Indians had resolved to sell 
no more land, but to keep it all for this child. This was, no 
doubt, a falsehood. Argall was a bad governor, and he was 
soon recalled, and a better man took his place. The son of 
Pocahontas returned to Virginia when he was grown. 

But when Pocahontas was dead, and Powhatan also, 
there was nothing to keep the Indians quiet, and in 162:;. 
they suddenly fell upon the settlement and killed more 
than three hundred people in one day. Long and bloody 
wars followed, but the colony of Virginia lived through 
them all. 



THE STORY OF TOCAHONTAS. 



41 




INDIAN MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA. 



Col'-o-ny, a company of people who have left their native country, 
to dwell together in some distant land. A-dop'-tion, the taking of a 
person as a relative who is not naturally so. Re-called', called back. 
Tell in your own words the story of — 

Pocahontas saving Captain Smith's life. Pocahontas and the 
messenger. Pocahontas warning Smith. Pocahontas saving 
Spelman. 
Also tell about — 

The sending of Captain Smith to England. The famine at James- 
town. 
Also tell of— 

Pocahontas a prisoner. Her marriage. Her visit to England. Her 
death. Her son. 



42 



HENRY HUDSON. 




HUDSON STOPPED BY ICE. 



VIII. 



Henry Hudson. 



''Three hundred years ago England was rather poor 
in people and in money. Spain had become rich and im- 
portant by her gold mines in the West Indies and the cen- 
tral parts of America. Portugal had been enriched by 
finding a way around Africa to India, where many things 
such as silks and spices were bought to be sold in Europe 
at high prices. Some thoughtful men in England had an 
idea that as the Portuguese had reached India by sailing 
round the Eastern Continent on the south, the English 
might find a way to sail to India around the northern 
part of Europe and Asia. By this means the English 



HENRY HUDSON. 43 

ships would also be able to get the precious things to 
be found in the East. 

For this purpose some London merchants founded the 
Mus'-co-vy Company, with old Sebastian Cabot at its head. 
This Muscovy Company had not succeeded in finding a 
way to China round the north of Europe, but in trying 
to do this its ships had opened a valuable trade with Rus- 
sia [rush'-ah], or Muscovy as it was then called, which was 
a country but little known before. 

One of the founders of this Muscovy Company was a 
rich man named Henry Hudson. It is thought that he 
was the grandfather of Henry Hudson, the explorer. The 
merchants who made up this company were in the habit 
of sending out their sons, while they were boys, in the 
ships of the company, to learn to sail vessels and to gain 
a knowledge of the languages and habits of trade in dis- 
tant countries. Henry was sent to sea while a lad, and was 
no doubt taught by the ship captains all about sailing ves- 
sels. When he grew to be a man, he wished to make him- 
self famous by finding a northern way to China. 

In the spring of 1607, almost four months after Captain 
Smith had left London with the colony bound for James- 
town, his friend Hudson was sent out by the Muscovy Com- 
pany to try once more for a passage to China. He had 
only a little ship, which was named Hopewell, and he had 
but ten men, including his own son John Hudson. He 
found that there was no way to India by the north pole. 
But he went farther north than any other man had gone. 

Hudson made an important discovery on this voyage. 



44 



HENRY HUDSON. 




He found whales in the Arctic Seas, 

and the Muscovy Company now fitted 

out whaling ships to catch them. The 

next year the brave Hudson tried to 

pass between Spitz-berg'-en and Nova ^ -— - 

Zembla [no'-vah zem'-blah], but he was again turned back 

by the walls of ice that fence in the frozen pole. 

By this time the Muscovy Company was discouraged, 
and gave up trying to get to India by going round 
the north of Europe. They thought it better to make 
money out of the whale fishery that Hudson had found. 
But in Holland there was the Dutch East India Com- 
pany, which sent ships round Africa to India. They had 
heard of the voyages of Hudson, 
who had got the name of " the 
bold Englishman." The Dutch 
Company was afraid that the 
English, with Hudson's help, 
might find a nearer way by 
the north, and so get the 
trade away from them. So 
they sent for " the bold Eng- 
lishman," and hired him to find 
this new route for them. 

Hudson left Amsterdam in 
1609 in a yacht called " The Half 
Moon." He sailed round Nor- 
way and found his old enemy the ice as bad as ever about 
Nova Zembla. Just before leaving home Hudson had re- 




THIS MAP SHOWS THE WAY TO (NDIA AND 
CHINA BY THE SOUTH, AND HOW HUD- 
SON TRIED TO REACH THOSE LANDS BY 
SAILING AROUND BY THE NORTH. 



HENRY HUDSON. 



45 




ISlTED El- THE INDIANS. 



ceived a letter from his friend Captain John Smith, in 
Virginia, telling him that there was a strait leading into 
the Pacific Ocean, to the north of Virginia. Hudson per- 
suaded his men to turn about and sail with him to America 
to look for the way to India that Smith had written about. 

So they turned to the westward and sailed to Newfound- 
land, and thence down the coast until they were opposite 
James River. Then Hudson turned north again, and began 
to look for a gateway through this wild and unknown coast. 
He sailed into Delaware Ba}-, as ships do now on their way 
to Philadelphia. Then he sailed out again and followed the 
shore till he came to the opening by which thousands of 
ships nowadays go into New York. 

He passed into New York Bay, where no vessel had 
ever been before. He said it was " a very good land to fall 



46 



HENRY HUDSON. 




in with, and a pleasant land to see," The 
New Jersey Indians swarmed about the ship 
dressed in fur robes and feather mantles, and 
wearing copper necklaces. Hudson thought 
some of the waterways about New York 
harbor must lead into the Pacific. 

He sent men out in a boat to examine the 
bays and rivers. They declared that the 
land was " as pleasant with grass and flow 
ers as ever they had seen, and very sweet 
smells." But before they got back, some 
Indians attacked the boat and killed one 
man by shooting him with an arrow. 

When the Indians came round the 
ship again, Hudson made two of them 
prisoners, and dressed them up in 
red coats. The rest he drove . 
As he sailed farther up from 
sea, twenty-eight dugout 
canoes filled with men, 
women, and children, 
paddled about the ship. 
The white men traded 
with them, giving them 
trinkets for oysters and 
beans, but none were 
allowed to come aboard. 
As the ship sailed 



HENRY HUDSON. 



47 



on up the river that we now call the Hudson, the two 
Indian prisoners saw themselves carried farther and farther 
from their home. One morning they jumped out of a 
porthole and swam ashore, without even stopping to say 
good-by. They stood on the bank and mocked the men 
on the Half Moon as she sailed away up the river. 

Hudson's ship anchored again opposite the Catskill 
Mountains, and here he found some very friendly Indians, 
who brought corn, 
pumpkins, and to- 
bacco to sell to the 
crew. Still farther 
up the river Hudson 
visited a tribe on 
shore, and wondered 
at their great heaps 
of corn and beans. 
The chief lived in a 
round bark house. 
Captain Hudson was 
made to sit on a 

mat and eat from a red wooden bowl. The Indians wished 
him to stay all night ; they broke their arrows and threw 
them into the fire, to show their friendliness. 

Hudson found the river growing shallower. When he 
got near where Albany now stands he sent a rowboat yet 
higher up. Then he concluded that this was not the way 
to the Pacific. He turned round and sailed down the river, 
and then across the ocean to England. The Half Moon 




48 HENRY HUDSON. 

returned to Holland, and the Dutch sent out other ships to 
trade in the river which Hudson had found. In the course 
oi time they planted a colony where New York now stands. 

Captain Hudson did not try to go round the north of 
Europe any more. But the next spring he sailed in an 
English ship to look for a way round the north side of 
the American Continent. On this voyage he discovered 
the great ba}' that is now called Hudson Bay. 

In this bay he spent the winter. His men suffered from 
hunger and sickness. In the summer of i6ii, after he had, 
with tears in his eyes, divided his last bread with his men, 
these wicked fellows put him into a boat with some sick 
sailors and cast them all adrift in the great bay. 

The men on the ship shot some birds for food, but in a 
fight with the Indians some of the leaders in the plot against 
Hudson were killed. The seamen, as they sailed home- 
ward, grew so weak from hunger hat they had to sit down 
to steer the vessel. When at last Juet, the mate, who had 
put Hudson overboard, had himself died of hunger, and all 
the rest had lain down in despair to die, they were saved by 
meeting another ship. 

Ex-plor'-er, one who travels to unknown, countries to find out what 
they are. Dutch, belonging to Holland. Dug'-out ca-noes', boats 
made by hollowing out a log. Port'-hole, an opening in the side of a ship, 
through which a cannon may be fired. Vaeht (yot), a kind of small vessel. 

Tell what you can remember about Hud.son's attempt to get to China 

by going round the north of Europe. 
Tell of Hudson's di.scovery and exploration of the Hudson River. 

Of Hudson's discovery of a great bay. 

Of his death. 



CAPTAIN MVLES STANDISII. 49 

IX. 
Captain Myles Standish. 

Thirteen years after the first settlement at James- 
town a colony was planted in New England. We have 
seen that the rough-and-ready John Smith was the man 
who had to deal with the Indians in Virginia. So the 
first colony in New England had also its soldier, a brave 
and rather hot-tempered little man — Captain Standish. 

Myles Standish was born in England in 1584. He be- 
came a soldier, and, like John Smith, went to fight in the 
Low Country — that is in what we now^ call Holland — which 
was at that time fighting to gain its liberty from Spain. 

The Government of Holland let people be religious in 
their own way, as our country does now. In nearly all 
other countries at that time people were punished if they 
did not worship after the manner of the established church 
of the land. A little band of people in the north of Eng- 
land had set up a church of their own. For this they 
were persecuted. In order to get away from their troubles 
they sold their houses and goods and went over to Hol- 
land. These are the people that we now call " the Pil- 
grims," because of their wanderings. 

Captain Standish, who was also from the north of Eng- 
land, met these countrymen of his in Holland. He liked 
their simple service and honest ways, and he lived among 
them though he did not belong to their church. 

The Pilgrims remained about thirteen years in Hol- 
land. By this time they had made up their minds to seek 



50 



CAPTAIN MYLES STANDISHc 




THE MAYFLOWER. 



a new home in the wild woods of Americac About a hun- 
dred of them bade the rest good-by and sailed for Amer- 
ica in the Mayflower in 
1620. As there might 
be some fighting to 
do, the brave sol- 
dier Captain Myles 
Standish went along 
with them. 
The ship first reached 
land at Cape Cod. 
Captain Standish and 
sixteen men landed, and 
marched along the shore looking 
for a place to settle. In one spot they found the ground 
freshly patted down. Digging here, they discovered In- 
dian baskets filled with corn. Indian corn is an American 
plant, and they had never before seen it. The beautiful 
grains, red, yellow, and white, were a " goodly sight," as 
they said. Some of this corn they took with them to plant 
the next spring. The Pilgrims paid the Indians for this 
seed corn when they found the right owners. 

Standish made his next trip in a boat. This time he 
found some Indian wigwams covered and lined with mats. 
In December, Captain Standish made a third trip along 
the shore. It was now so cold that the spray froze to the 
clothes of his men while they rowed. At night they slept 
behind a little barricade made of logs and boughs, so as 
to be ready if the Indians should attack them. 



CAPTAIN MYLES STANDISH. 



51 



One morning some of the men carried all their guns 
down to the water-side and laid them in the boat, in order 
to be ready for a start as soon as breakfast should be fin- 
ished. But all at once there broke on their ears a sound 
they had never heard before. It was the wild war whoop 
of a band of Indians whose arrows rained around Stand- 
ish and his men. Some of the men ran to the boat for 
their guns, at which the Indians raised a new yell and 
sent another lot of arrows flying after them. But once 
the white men were in possession of their guns, they fired 

a volley which made 
the Indians take to 
their heels. One un- 
commonly brave In- 
dian lingered behind 
a tree to fight it out 
alone; but when a 
bullet struck the tree and sent bits of bark and splinters 
rattling about his head, he thought better of it, and ran 
after his friends into the woods. 

Captain Standish and his men at length came to a 
place which John Smith, when he explored the coast, had 
called Plymouth [plim'-uth]. Here the Pilgrims found a 
safe harbor for ships and some running brooks from 
which they might get fresh water. They therefore se- 
lected it for their landing place. There had once been 
an Indian town here, but all the Indians in it had died 
of a pestilence three or four years before this time. The 
Indian cornfields were now lying idle, which was lucky 





52 



CAPTAIN MYLES STANDISH. 



for the Pilgrims, since otherwise they would have had to 
chop down trees to clear a field. 

The Pilgrims landed on the 2 1st day of December, in 
our way of counting, or, as some say, the 22d. They 
built some rough houses, using paper dipped in oil in- 
stead of window glass. But the bad food and lack of 
warm houses or clothing brought on a terrible sickness, 
so that here, as at Jamestown, one half of the people died 

in the first year. Cap- 
tain Standish lost his wife, 
but he himself was well 
enough to be a kind nurse 
to the sick. Though he 
was born of a high family, 
he did not neglect to do 
the hardest and most dis- 
agreeable work for his 
sick and dying neighbors. 

As there were not many 
liouses, the people in Plym- 
outh were divided into 
nineteen families, and the 
..ingle men had to live with 
one or another of these 
lamilies. A young man 
named John Alden [awl'- 
ilen] was assigned to live in 
Captain Standish's house. 
Some time after Standish's 




A PURITAN MAIDEN. 



CAPTAIN MYLES STANDISH. 53 

wife died the captain thought he would Hke to marry a 
young woman named Priscilla Mullins. But as Standish 
was much older than Priscilla, and a rough-spoken soldier 
in his ways, he asked his young friend Alden to go to the 
Mullins house and try to secure Priscilla for him. 

It seems that John Alden loved Priscilla, and she did 
not dislike him. But Standish did not know this, and poor 
Alden felt bound to do as the captain requested. In that 
day the father of the young lady was asked first. So Alden 
went to Mr. Mullins and told him what a brave man Cap- 
tain Standish was. Then he asked if Captain Standish 
might marry Priscilla. 

" I have no objection to Captain Standish," said Pris- 
cilla's father, " but this is a matter she must decide." 

So he called in his daughter, and told her in Alden 's 
presence that the young man had come to ask her hand 
in marriage with the brave Captain Standish. Priscilla 
had no notion of marrying the captain. She looked at 
the young man a moment, and then said : 

Why don't you speak for yourself, John ?" 

The result was that she married John Alden, and Cap- 
tain Standish married another woman. You may read this 
story, a little changed, in Longfellow's poem called " The 
Courtship of Miles Standish." 

Per'-se-cu-ted, punished unjustly; troubled on account of religion. 
Bar-ri-cade', something hastily thrown up for protection. War 
whoop, a cry by which the Indians try to frighten their enemies in 
battle. Vol '-ley. a discharge of many small arms at once. Pes'-ti- 
lence, any fatal sickness that spreads from one to another, so that a 
large number of people die of it in a short time. Re-quest '-ed, asked. 



54 



CAPTAIN MYLES STANDISII. 



Tell in your own words — 

How the Pilgrims came to be in Holland. 

About their coming to America. 

Their troubles in trying to find a place to live. 

About their sufferings in Plymouth. 
Tell — How Standish came to know the Pilgrims. 

Why he came to Plymouth. 

The curious story of his courtship. 



X. 



Myles Standish and the Indians. 

The Indians, having got one taste of the 
firearms of the white men, were afraid to 
attack Plymouth. But they thought that 
they might get rid of the white men by 
witchcraft. So they held what they called 
a " powwow " in a big swamp, to per- 
suade the spirits to kill or drive away 
the newcomers. Sometimes the Pil- 
grims would see some Indians on a hill- 
top near Plymouth. But the savages al- 
ways ran away as soon as they were dis- 
covered. Perhaps they came to see whether 
the Plymouth people had all been killed 
by the spirits. 
But in the spring a chief from a place farther east 
came to visit the Indians near Plymouth. He had met 
English fishermen and learned a little English. He was 
not afraid to visit the white men. Walking boldly into 




DANCING MEDICINE MAN. 



MYLES STANDISH AND THE INDIANS. 



55 



INDIAN 

BOW 

AND 

ARROW. 



the little town, he said, " Welcome, Englishmen." 
The Pilgrims were surprised to hear two English 
words from the mouth of an Indian. 

They treated this Indian well, and he came again 
bringing an Indian named Squanto [squon'-to] who 
could speak more English. Squanto, who had lived 
at Plymouth, was one of the Indians carried away 
to Spain by Captain Hunt. From Spain he had 
been taken to England, and then brought back to 
America. When he got home to Plymouth he found 
that all the people of his village had died of the 
pestilence. 

Squanto now came again to the old home of his 
people at Plymouth and lived with the Pilgrims. He 
showed the English a way to catch eels by treading 
them out of the mud with his feet. He knew 
the woods and waters well, and he showed 
them how to hunt and fish. He taught them 
how to plant Indian corn as the Indians did, 
putting a fish or two in every hill for ma- 
nure, and then watching the fields for a while 
to keep the wolves from digging up the 
buried fish. Without the seed corn and the 
help of Squanto the whole colony would 
have starved. 

Squanto liked to make himself important 
among the Indians by boasting of the power 
of his friends the white men. He talked about the dread- 
ful gunpowder kept in the cellar at Plymouth. He also 




SQUANTO 
CATCHING EELS. 



56 MYLES STANDISH AND THE INDIANS. 

told them that the horrid pestilence was kept in the same 
cellar with the powder. 

Massasoit [mas'-sa-soit], the chief of Squanto's tribe, 
came to see the Pilgrims, bringing some other Indians with 
him. They were taken into the largest house in Ph-mouth 
and seated on a green mat and some cushions. The Gov- 
ernor of the colony was then brought in while the trum- 
pets were blowing and the drums beating. This parade 
pleased the Indians, but they were much afraid of the 
Plymouth people. Afterwards the Pilgrims sent Massasoit a 
red cotton coat and a copper chain, and by degrees a firm 
friendship was made between him and the white men. 

Captain Standish was a little man, and one of his ene- 
mies once nicknamed him " Captain Shrimp." But the 
Indians soon learned to be afraid of him. When a chief 
near by threatened to trouble the Pilgrims and kill Squan- 
to, Standish marched to the spot and surrounded his wig- 
wam. Having fired on the Indians and frightened them, 
he took three .whom he had wounded back to Plymouth 
with him. The white people cured their wounds and sent 
them home again. 

The Nar-ra-gan'-sett Indians were enemies of Massasoit. 
None of their people had died of the pestilence, and they 
were therefore stronger than Massasoit's tribe. The Narra- 
gansetts sent a bundle of arrows to Plymouth tied up in a 
snake's skin. Squanto told the English that this meant to 
say that they would come and make war on Plymouth. 
The Pilgrims filled the snake's skin with bullets, and sent 
it back. This was to say, " Shoot your arrows at us and we 



MYLES STANDISH AND THE INDIANS. 



V ^■' 



will kill you with our bullets." The Narragan- 
setts were so afraid of the bullets that they sent 
them back to Plymouth, and there was no war. 

When the Pilgrims had been settled at Plym- 
outh more than a year, a ship brought them news 
of the dreadful massacre that had taken place in 
Virginia. The Pilgrims were afraid something 
of the kind might happen to them. So Cap- 
tain Standish trained the Plymouth men, and 
they kept guard every night. They put can- 
non on the roof of their meetinghouse and 
carried their guns to church. 

A company of people from England made a 
settlement at Weymouth [way'-muth], not very 
far from Plymouth. They were rude and famil- 
iar, and the Indians soon despised them. Some 
Indian warriors made a plan to kill them all. 
They intended to kill the Plymouth people at 
the same time. But Massasoit told the Pilgrims 
about it, and said they must go and kill the lead- 
ers before they had a chance to kill the white men. 

Captain Standish set out for the colony at 
Weymouth. He took but few men, so that the 
Indians might not guess what he came for. But 
they saw that the little captain was very " angry 
in his heart," as they said. Seeing how few his 
men Avere, they tried to frighten him. 

One of these Indians named Wittamut sharp- 
ened the knife which he wore hanging about hii 






58 



MYLES STANDISH AND THE INDIANS. 



neck. While sharpening it he said to Captain Standish : 
" This is a good knife. On tlie handle is the picture of a 
woman's face. But I have another knife at home with 
which I have killed both Frenchmen and Englishmen. 
That knife has a man's face on it. After a while these two 
will get married." 

A large Indian named Pecksuot said: "You are a cap- 
tain, but you are a little man. I am not a chief, but I am 
strong and brave." 

It was now a question whether Standish would attack 

the Indians or wait for them to begin. One day when 

Wittamut, Pecksuot, and two other Indians were in the 

room with Standish and some of his men, the captain made 

a signal, and himself snatched the knife 

that hung on Pecksuot 's neck and stabbed 

him to death after a terrible struggle. 

His men killed the other Indians in the 

same way. The rest of their tribe 

fled to the woods for fear, and 

after that the English 



were called " stabbers " 
in the Indian language. 
The Pilgrims were often 
very near to starvation dur- 
ing the first years after they 
settled at Plymouth, At one 
time they lived on clams and lobsters and such fish as 
they could catch. Standish made many voyages along 
the coast, trading with the Indians for furs, which were 




A PLYMOUTH SETTLER GETTING HIS DINNER. 



MYLES STANDISH AND THE INDIANS. 59 

sent to England and exchanged for whatever the settlers 
might need. 

A few years after the Pilgrims settled Plymouth people 
began to settle near them, and in 1630 there came over a 
large number of people, who founded Boston and other 
Massachusetts towns. Captain Standish lived to be more 
than seventy years old and to see many thousands of people 
in New England. He owned a place at Duxbury, just 
across the bay from Plymouth. He died there in 1656. 
The hill which he owned is still called " Captain's Hill." 

^/V"iteh'-c^aft, the use of charms or ceremonies in order to persuade 
the spirits to do some wonderful thing. Pow'-^A^o^A^, mysterious cere- 
monies practiced by the Indians. Shrimp, a creature resembling a lob- 
ster, but smaller ; a little wrinkled man. Sig'-nal, a sign given to another. 

Tell in your own words — 

How the Indians tried to get rid of the white men. 

How the first Indian came to Plymouth. 

About Squanto. 

About Massasoit. 

About the Narragansetts. 

How and why Standish killed certain Indians. 

About the beginning of Boston. 



XI. 

William Penn. 

William Penn, who founded Pennsylvania, was born in 
London, England, in 1644. He was the only son of Admiral 
William Penn. Admiral Penn had become a captain before 
he was twenty, and had distinguished himself in naval bat- 



6o 



WILLIAM PENN. 



ties. He was a rich man, lived fashionably, and was re- 
ceived at court. He wanted to make his son William a 
man of importance in the world like himself. So William 
Penn was carefully educated. When he was at Oxford he 
heard a man named Thomas Loe preach against such things 
as the wearing of gowns by students. It had been the cus- 
tom for the students in the col- 
leges at Oxford to wear gowns ; 
but the Puritans, who ruled 
England after Charles I was 
beheaded, forbade this, having 
a notion that it was wicked. 
When King Charles H was re- 
stored to the throne, the stu- 
dents were again required to 
put on gowns. Under the in- 
fluence of Loe's preaching, Penn 
and some other young men refused to dress in this way, 
and they even went so far as to tear off the gowns of other 
students. For this Penn was expelled from the university. 
William Penn's father was very angry with his son 
when he came home expelled. He was afraid that his son 
would join the Friends, or Quakers, who not only refused 
to take part in the ceremonies of the English Church, but 
also refused to serve the king as soldiers, believing war to 
be wicked. They would not make oath in court, nor would 
they take off their hats to anybody. Admiral Penn did not 
like to see his son adopt the opinions and ways of a people 
so much despised and persecuted. 




TEARING OFF A STUDENT'S GOWN. 



WILLIAM PENN. 



6i 



Hoping that William would forget these impressions, he 
sent him to France. Here young Penn was presented at 
the court of Louis XIV, and here he finished his educa- 
tion. He then traveled in Italy, and returned to England 
when he was twenty years old. His father was well 
pleased to see that he had improved in manners, and 
seemed to have forgotten his Quaker ideas. 

He was presented at the court of Charles II, and became 
a law student. He also carried dispatches from his father's 
fleet to the king. In 1665 the plague broke out in London, 
and in these sad times William Penn's religious feelines 
began to return. 

His father, hoping to give him something else to think 
about, sent him to Ireland to attend to some land which 
belonged to the admiral. Here he was presented at the 
fcourt of the viceroy, the Duke of Ormond. 
He served as a soldier for a little while dur- 
ing an insurrection. You will see that his 
portrait was painted in armor, after 
the fashion of fine gentlemen of that 
time. But while Penn was in Ire- 
land, he heard that Thomas Loe, 
whose preaching had affected him so 
much when he was a student, was to 
preach in Cork. Penn went to hear 
him ; all his old feelings revived, and he 
became a Friend. He now attended the 
meetings of the Friends, or Quakers, for which he was at 
length arrested and thrown into prison with the rest of the 




WILLIAM PENN AS A YOUNG MAN. 



62 



WILLIAM PENN. 



congregation. He was afterwards set free. His father, 
Hearing of what his son had been doing, sent for him. 

Admiral Penn was very angry with Wilham, but he told 
him that he would forgive him 
everything else if he would take 
«;:' off his hat to his father, to the 
king, and to the king's broth- 
er, the Duke of York. Will- 
iam took some time to think 
of it, and then told his father 
that he could not promise even 
this. The admiral then turned 
his son out of doors. But his 
mother sent him money, and after 
a time he was allowed to come 
home, but not to see his father. 
William Penn presently began to preach and write in 
favor of the doctrines of the Friends. He soon got into 
trouble, and was imprisoned in the Tower 
of London for eight months. The 
Duke of York was a great friend '' , ^ 

of William Penn's father, and 




PENN THINKS IT WRONG 
TO TAKE OFF HIS HAT TO HIS FATHER. 



he finally got Penn released 
from the Tower. The father 
now gave up opposing his 
son's religion. William Penn was ar- 
rested again in about a year for preach- 
ing in the street. He was tried, and spoke for himself 
very boldly in court. The jury, after listening to him, 




TOWER OF LONDON. 



WILLIAM PENN. 



63 




PENN APPEALS TO THE JURY. 



would not bring in any verdict but that he was guilty of 
speaking in the street. 

The judges were very angry with the jury, but the 
jurymen would not change their verdict. The judges of 
that day were ver}^ tyrannical. The jurymen in this case 
were fined, and sent to prison along with William Penn, 
who was imprisoned for wearing his hat in court. Soon 
after Penn was released, his father died. The admiral 
asked the Duke of York to befriend his son, who, he 
feared, would always be in trouble. 

Penn now traveled in England, Wales, Ireland, Holland, 
and Germany, on his preaching journeys. He used all the 



64 



WILLIAM PENN. 



influence he had at court with the king and the king's 
brother, the Duke of York, to get Quakers and other perse- 
cuted people out of prison. 

The American colonies had come to be a place for peo- 
ple of all religions to flee to when they were troubled in 
England. Some members of the Society of Friends — Penn 
among others — began to be interested in West Jersey, a 
part of what is now the State of New Jersey, as a place 
of refuge for Quakers. 

The English Government owed Penn's father a large 
sum of money. Charles II was in debt, and found it hard 
to pay what he owed, so at length Penn persuaded the 
king to grant him a tract of land on the west side of the 

Delaware River. The king 

named this Pennsylvania, 

in honor of Admiral Penn. 

William Penn made the laws of 

his colony such that nobody in it 

would be troubled because of his 

religion. He sent some colonists 

there in 1681. Some of the people 

dug holes in the river bank to live 

in when they first reached Penn- 

sylvania. Penn himself came the 

next year, and laid out a city, naming it Philadelphia, 

which means " Brotherly Love." 

William Penn managed the Indians well, and for many 
years after his death Pennsylvania had no wars. Penn made 
a treaty with the Indians under a large elm, in 1682. The 




THE SITE OF PHILADELPHIA 

IS MARKED ON THIS MAP 

BY THE LETTER P. 



WILLIAM PENN. 



65 



woods were filled with savages, all armed and painted. 
The Quakers were but a handful. They wore neither weap- 
ons nor ornaments, except that 
Penn had a sky-blue sash around 
his waist. The Indians seat- 
ed themselves on the ground 
around their various chiefs 
in the form of half-moons. 

When Penn was a young 
man he had been famous 
for his skill in jumping and 
other exercises. Finding 
the Indians engaged in a 
jumping match one day, he 
took part with them, and 
they were much pleased to 
have the great governor 
share in their sport. Pennsylvania grew much faster than 
any of the other colonies. The government established 
by Penn was free, the Indians were friendly, and the 
land was sold in small farms, so that poor men could own 
their farms. People, therefore, liked to settle in Penn's 
colony. 

After two years William Penn went back to England. 
King Charles II died soon after. William Penn's friend, 
the Duke of York, now became king as James II, and Penn 
was seen a great deal in the palace. He got the Friends 
relieved from all their troubles, but he came to be hated a 
great deal by those who disliked King James. When this 




PENN AND THE INDIANS. 



^ WILLIAM PENN. 

king was driven from England, and King William and 
Queen Mary were set up in his stead, Penn was very 
much suspected of wishing to bring James back. He was 
arrested several times, but nothing could be proved against 
him. The control of Pennsylvania was taken from him 
also, but this was afterwards restored. 

Penn returned to Pennsylvania in 1699. He was once 
taking a journey through his province when he met a little 
girl named Rebecca Wood going to "meeting" on foot. 
He took the little girl up behind him on his horse, and the 
great proprietor of Pennsylvania was seen riding gravely 
along with the bare legs and feet of a poor little girl dan- 
gling at his horse's side. 

Penn returned again to England, and, after many years, 
died in 1718. His descendants appointed the governors of 
Pennsylvania until the Revolution. 




WAMPUM BELT GIVEN BY THE INDIANS TO WILLIAM PENN. 

Na'-val bat'-tles, battles between ships at sea. U '-ni-ver '-si-ty, 
a title given to all the colleges at Oxford taken together. Ex-pelled', 
turned out. Dis-patch'-es, written messages. The plague, a terrible 
disease which in old times caused the death of many thousands of peo- 
ple. Vice'-roy, one who governs a kingdom or province in place of a 
king. Re-vived', came to life again. Ju'-ry, a company of men, 
usually twelve in number, selected to hear testimony and decide a case. 
Ju'-ry-men, the members of a jury. Ver'-dict, the decision of a jury. 
Ty-ran'-nic-al, overbearing, like a tyrant. Pal'-ace, the house of a 
king. Pro-pri'-e-tor, owner. 



WILLIAM PENN. 67 



Tell all you can remember about — 

How William Penn became a Friend. 

William Penn and his father. 

Penn's troubles as a Quaker preacher. 

How Penn got Pennsylvania. 

The settlement of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. 

Penn's life afterwards. 



XII. 
King Philip. 

When the Pilgrims first came to New England they 
found that the nearest tribe of Indians, the Wam-pa-no'-ags, 
of which Massasoit was chief, had been much reduced in 
number by a dreadful sickness. The bones of the dead lay 
bleaching on the ground. 

The next neighbors to the Wampanoags were the Nar- 
ragansetts. These had not been visited by the great sick- 
ness, but were as numerous and strong as ever. Massasoit 
was, therefore, very glad to have the English, with their 
strange guns and long swords, near him, to protect his peo- 
ple from the Narragansetts. 

The two sons of Massasoit had been named by the white 
people Alexander and Philip, and they were very proud of 
their names. These young men remained friendly to the 
settlers for some time after their father's death. But many 
things made the Indians discontented. They readily sold 
their lands to the white people for blankets, hatchets, toys, 
and such things. The ground was all covered with woods, 
and, as they used it only for hunting, it was of little value. 



68 



KING PHILIP. 



But when they saw how much the white men made out of 
it they wished to be paid over again. 

Many of this tribe of Indians became Christians through 
tlie preaching of John Eliot, wlio was called " The Apostle 
to the Indians. These were called " praying Indians." 
They settled in villages and tried to live like white people, 
though they continued to dwell in bark houses, because 
they found that the easiest way to clean house was to leave 
the old one and build a new one. They no longer followed 
their chiefs or respected the charms of the medicine men.. 
It made the great men among the Indians angry to see their 
people leave them. 

The young chief Alexander began to show ill feeling 
toward the white people. The rulers of Plymouth Colony 
took harsh measures with him. They 
sent some soldiers and brought him 
to Plymouth to answer for his con- 
duct. When this proud Indian saw 
himself arrested and degraded in this 
way he felt it bitterly. He was 
taken sick at Plymouth, and died 
soon after he got home. 

The Indians imagined that Alex- 
ander had died of poison given him 
by white men. Some time afterwards 
ARREST OF ALEXANDER. tlic whltc pcopIe licard that Alexan- 

der's brother, Philip, was sharpening hatchets and knives. 
They immediately sent for him, and forced him and his 
men to give up the seventy guns they had brought with 




v^ 



KING PHILIP. 



69 



them. They also made Philip promise to send in all the 
other guns his men had. 

When the white people first came, the Indians had noth- 
ing to shoot with but bows and arrows. In Philip's time 
they had given up bows, 
finding guns much better 
for killing game. You may 
be sure that when Philip 
once got away from the 
white people he did not send '^-.i 
in any more guns. But he 
hid his anger, as an Indian 
always does, and waited for 
a chance to strike. 

Though Philip lived in a 
common, dirty wigwam, and 
was probably often in need of food, he was called King 
Philip, and he proudly called himself a king and thought 
himself as great a man as the King of England. He had a 
coat made of shell beads, or wampum. These beads were 
made by breaking and polishing little bits of hard-clam 
shells, and then boring a hole through them with a stone 
awl, as you see in the picture. Wampum was used for 
money among the Indians, and even among the white peo- 
ple at that time. Such a coat as Philip's was very valuable. 
Philip dressed himself, also, in a showy red blanket ; he 
wore a belt of wampum about his head and another long 
belt of wampum around his neck, the ends of which dangled 
nearly to the ground. 




BORING WAMPUM. 



70 



KING PHILIP. 








WAMPUM BELT. 



The quarrel between the white people and the Indians 
grew more bitter. An Indian, who had told the white men 
of Philip's plans, was put to death, probably by Philip's 
order. The white people hanged the Indians who had 
killed their friend. 

The Indians under Philip were now resolved on war. 
But their medicine men, or priests, who pretended to talk 
with spirits, told them that whichever side should shed 
the first blood would be beaten in the war. The Indians 
burned houses and robbed farms, but they took pains not 
to kill anybody, until a white man had wounded an In- 
dian. Then, when blood had been shed, they began to kill 
the white people. 

This Indian war broke out in 1675. The New England 
people lived at that time in villages, most of them not very 
far from the sea. The more exposed towns were struck 
first. The people took refuge in strong houses, which were 
built to resist the Indians. But everywhere those who 
moved about were killed. Some were shot in going for 
water, otliers were slain as they ran out after the savages 
had set fire to their houses. 

The white men sent out troops, but the Indians some- 



KING PHILIP. 



71 



times waylaid soldiers and killed them suddenly. Philip 
cut up his fine wampum coat and sent the bead money of 
which it was made to neighboring chiefs to persuade them 
to join him. Soon other tribes, anxious to share in the 
plunder and slaughter, entered the fight. 

As the Indians grew bolder, they attacked the white 
men in their forts or blockhouses. At Brookfield they 
shot burning arrows on the roof of the blockhouse, but 
the white men tore off the shingles and put out the 
fire. Then the savages crept up and lighted a fire under 
one corner of the house; but the men inside made a 
dash and drove back the enemy and put the fire out. 
Then the Indians made a cart with a barrel for a wheel. 
They loaded this with straw and lighted it, and backed 
the blazing mass up against the house, sheltering them- 
selves behind it. Luckily a shower came up at that mo- 
ment and put out the fire. 




A very curious thing happened at Hadley. An old 
gentleman named General Goffe was hid away in a house 
in that town. He was one of the judges that had con- 
demned Charles I to death twenty-six years before. When 
the son of King Charles I came to be king he put to death 



72 



KING PHILIP. 



such of these judges as he could find, and Goffe had to 
flee from England and hide. Nobody in the village knew 
that Goffe was there, except those who entertained him. 
While all the people were at church one Sunday, the old 

general ventured to look out 
of the window, which he did 
not dare to do at other times. 
He saw the Indians coming 
to attack the town. He rushed 
out and gave the alarm, and, 
with long white hair and beard 
streaming in the wind, the 
old soldier took command 
of the villagers, who soon 
drove back the savages. 
But when the fight was over, the 
people could not find the old 
man who had led them, nor did they know who he was 
or where he came from. They said that a messenger had 
been sent from heaven to deliver them. 

The powerful tribe of the Narragansetts promised to 
remain peaceable, but young savages are too fond of war 
to miss a chance to engage in a battle. Some of the Nar- 
ragansetts joined Philip, and their great fort was a refuge 
for Philip's men. They were probably waiting for spring 
to come before openly joining in the war. 

The white men resolved to strike the first blow against 
them while it was yet winter. A thousand men from Mas- 
sachusetts and Connecticut pushed through the snow and 




GENERAL GOFFE SAVES HADLEY. 



KING PHILIP. 73 

made a desperate assault by night on the Narragansett 
town, which was inside a fortification having but one 
entrance, and that by a bridge. Nearly two hundred of 
the white men were killed in this fight, and many hun- 
dreds of Indians were slain, and their fort and all their 
provisions were burned. The white men marched back, 
carrying their wounded through the bitter cold. 

The Narragansetts took a terrible revenge. They joined 
Philip at once. Towns were now burned and people killed 
in every direction. The white men in armor could not 
catch the nimble Indians, who massacred the people in 
one village only to disappear and strike another village far 
away. Many women and children were carried into cap- 
tivity by the Indians. 

Bleach'-ing, whitening. Apostle [a-pos'-s'l], one sent on an im- 
portant religious mission. Charm, an object or ceremony supposed to 
have magical powers. Way-lay', to watch for an enemy by hiding near 
the way along which he must pass. Bloek'-house, a house built of logs 
closely fitted together and arranged for defending those in it. Colonel 
[kur'-nel], an officer who commands a regiment of soldiers. 

Tell what you can — 

About the father and brother of King Philip. 

About the quarrels betv/een white men and Indians. 

About how the war began. 

About blockhouses, and how the Indians attacked the people m 
them. 

About the fight with the Narragansetts. 
Also tell — How wampum was made. 

What wampum was used for. 

What you know about the medicine men. 

About Colonel Gofie. 



74 



CAPTAIN CHURCH IN PHILIP S WAR. 



XIII. 



Captain Church in Philip's War. 



The white men had not learned how to fight the In- 
dians, who moved swiftly from place to place, and hid 
themselves in the darkest swamps. But at last the man 
was found who could battle with the Indians in their own 
way. This was Captain Benjamin Church. 

Church could not only fight the Indians, but he knew 
how to make them his friends. One tribe, not far from 

his home, was un- 
der the control of a 
squaw sachem, or 
woman chief. Her 
name was Awa- 
shonks. She and 
Benjamin Church 
were good friends, 
and after the war 
broke out Church 
tried to go to see 
her, but some of the 
Indians of her tribe who were friendly to Philip attacked 
Church and his men, so that they had to hide behind a 
fence till a boat came and took them away. 

Later in the war. Church sent word * to Awashonks 
that he would meet her and four other Indians at a 
certain place. But the rulers of Plymouth Colony thought 
it too dangerous for Church to go to see the squaw 




CAPTAIN CHURCH IN PHILIP'S WAR. 75 

sachem. They would not give him any men for such an 
expedition. 

However, Church went on his own account, with one 
white man and three Indians. He took some tobacco and a 
bottle of rum as presents suited to the taste of this Indian 
queen. Church ventured ashore, leaving his canoe to stand 
off at a safe distance, so that if he should be killed the men 
in the canoe might carry the news to the white people. 
Awashonks and the four Indians met him and thanked him 
for venturing among them. But soon a great number of 
warriors, frightfully painted and armed, rose up out of the 
tall grass and surrounded Captain Church. The captain 
knew that if he showed himself frightened he would be 
killed. 

Have you not met me to talk about peace ? " he said to 
Awashonks. 

" Yes," said Awashonks. 

" When people meet to talk of peace they lay down their 
arms," said Captain Church. 

The Indians now began to look surly and to mutter 
something. 

" If you will put aside your guns, that will do," said 
Church. 

The Indian warriors laid down their guns and squatted 
on the grass. During the discussion some of them grew 
angry, and one fellow with a wooden tomahawk wished to 
kill Church, but the others pushed him away. The captain 
succeeded in making peace with this tribe, who agreed to 
take the side of the English against Philip. 



76 



CAPTAIN CHURCH IN PHILIP'S WAR. 



Awashonks held a war dance after this, and Church at- 
tended. The Indians lighted a great bonfire, and moved 
about it in rings. One of the braves stepped inside the 
circle and called out the name of one of the tribes 
■i-^^i^_ . fighting on Philip's side against the white 

people. Then he pulled a firebrand out 
of the fire to represent that tribe, and 
he made a show of fighting with the fire- 
brand. Every time the name of a tribe 
was called, a firebrand was drawn out 
and attacked in this way. 

After this ceremony Church could call 
on as many of these Indians as he wished 
to help him against Philip. With small bands 
of these Indians and a few white men Cap- 
tain Church scoured the woods, capturing a 
great many Indian prisoners. 

From the prisoners that he took, Church 
chose certain ones and made them sol^ 
diers under him. He would say to one of these men: 
" Come! come! You look wild, and mutter. That doesn't 
matter. The best soldiers I have got were as wild and 
surly as you a little while ago. By the time you've been 
one day with me you'll love me, too, and be as active as 
any of them." 

And it always turned out so. The captain was so jolly, 
and yet so bold and so successful, that the savage whom he 
chose to help him would presently do anything for him, 
even to capturing his own friends. 




FIGHTJNG A FIREBRAND. 



CAPTAIN CHURCH IN PHILIP S WAR. "JJ 

At last SO many of Philip's Indians were taken that 
Philip himself was fleeing from swamp to swamp to avoid 
falling into the hands of the white men. But he grew 
fiercer as he grew more desperate. He killed one of his 
men for telling him that he ought to make peace with the 
white men. The brother of the man whom he killed ran 
away from Philip, and came into the settlement to tell the 
white people where to find that chief. 

Captain Church had just come from chasing Philip to 
make a short visit to his wife. The poor woman had been 
so anxious for her husband's safety that she fainted when 
she saw him. By the time she had recovered the Indian 
deserter came to tell Church where Philip could be found, 
and the captain galloped off at once. 

Church placed his men near the swamp in which 
Philip was hidden. The Indians took the alarm and fled. 
In running away Philip ran straight toward Church's 
hidden men, and was shot by the very Indian whose 
brother he had killed. His head w^as cut off and stuck 
up over a gatepost at Plymouth. Such was the ugly cus- 
tom in that day. 

Philip's chief captain, Annawon, got away with a con- 
siderable number of Indians. Church and half a dozen of 
his Indian scouts captured an old Indian and a young 
squaw who belonged to Annawon's party. They made 
these two walk ahead of them carrying baskets, while 
Church and his men crept behind them. In this way they 
got down a steep bank right into the camp of Annawon, 
whose party was much stronger than Church's. But Church 



78 



CAPTAIN CHURCH IN PHILIP'S WAR. 



"I 
sup 



boldly seized the 
guns of the In- 
dians, which were 
stacked together. 

" I am taken," 
cried Annawon. 

" What have you 
got for supper ? " 
asked Church, 
liave come to 
with you." 

Annawon or- 
dered the women 
to hurry up sup- 
per, and when it 
was ready he asked 
Church whether he 
would have " horse 
beef" or "cow beef. " Church preferred to eat cow beef. 
The captain told his Indians to stand guard while he 
tried to get a nap. But soon all were fast asleep except 
Church and Annawon, who lay eying each other. Present- 
ly, Annawon got up and walked away. Church moved all 
the Indians' guns close to himself. He thought that the old 
chief might have gone for another gun, and he lay down 
beside the chief's son, so that Annawon could not shoot him 
without killing his own son. 

But Annawon came back with a bundle in his arms. 
He fell on his knees before Church. 




INDIAN WOMAN CARRYING BASKET. 



CAPTAIN CHURCH IN PHILIP S WAR. 



79 



" Great captain," he said, "you have killed Philip and 
conquered his country. I and my company are the last. 
This war is ended by you, and therefore these things are 
yours." 

He opened the bun- 
dle, which contained 
Philip's belts of wam- 
pum and the red 
blanket in which 
Philip dressed on great 
occasions. 

This ended King 
Philip's War. 




ANNAWON OPENS PHILIP'S BUNDLE. 



Tell in your own words about — 

Captain Church's visit to Awashonks. 

The war dance. 

How Church got his Indian prisoners to help him. 

How Philip was killed. 

How Annawon was made prisoner. 



XIV. 



Bacon and his Men. 

In 1676, just a hundred years before the American Revo- 
lution, the people of Virginia were very much oppressed by 
Sir William Berkeley, the governor appointed by the King of 
England. Their property was taken away by unjust taxes, 
and in other ways. The governor had managed to get all 
the power into his own hands and those of his friends. 



8o BACON AND HIS MEN. 

This was the time of King Philip's War in New Eng- 
land. The news of this war made the Indians of Virginia 
uneasy, and at length the Susquehannas and other tribes 
attacked the frontiers. Governor Berkeley would not do 
anything to protect the people on the frontier, because he 
was making a great deal of money out of the trade with 
friendly Indians, and if troops were sent against them this 
trade would be stopped. 

When many hundreds of people on the frontier had 
been put to death, some three hundred men formed them- 
selves into a company to punish the Indians. But Berkeley 
refused to allow any one to take command of this troop, or 
to let them go against the savages. 

There was a brilliant young gentleman named Nathaniel 
Bacon, who had come from England three years before. 
He was a member of the governor's Council, and an edu- 
cated man of wealth. He begged the governor to let him 
lead this company of three hundred men against the In- 
dians; but the cruel and stubborn old governor said. No. 

Bacon was sorry for the suffering people. He went 
to the camp of these men, to see and encourage them. 
But when they saw him they set up the cry, "A Bacon! 
A Bacon! A Bacon!" This was the way of cheering a 
man at that day and choosing him for a leader. 

Bacon knew that the governor might put him to death 
if he disobeyed orders, but he could not refuse these poor 
men who had been driven from their homes. So off he 
went at their head to the Indian towns, where he killed 
many of the savages. 



BACON AND HIS MEN. 



The old governor gathered his friends and started after 
Bacon, declaring that he would hang him for going to 
war without orders; but while he was looking for him, 
the people down by; the coast rose in favor of Bacon. 
The governor had to make peace with them by promis- 
ing to let them choose a new Legislature. 

When Bacon got back from the Indian country the 
frontier people nearly worshiped him as their deliverer. 
They kept guard night and day over his house. They 
were afraid the angry governor would 
send men to kill him. 

The people of his county elect- 
ed Bacon a member of the new 
Legislature. But they were afraid 
the governor might harm him. 
Forty of them with guns went 
down to Jamestown with him in a 
sloop. With the help of two boats 
and a ship the governor captured 
Bacon's sloop, and brought Bacon 
into Jamestown. But as the an- 
gry people were already rising to 
defend their leader, Berkeley was afraid to hurt him. He 
made him apologize, and restored him to his place in 
the Council. 

But that night Bacon was warned that the next day 
he would be seized again, and that the roads and river 
were guarded to keep him from getting away. So he 
took horse suddenly and galloped out of Jamestown in 




GUARDING BACON'S HOUSE. 



82 



BACON AND HIS MEN. 



the darkness. The next morning the governor sent men 
to search the house where he had stayed. They stuck 
their swords through the beds, think- 
ig him hidden there. 
But Bacon was already among 
friends. When the country 
people heard that he was in 
danger, they seized their guns 
and vowed to kill the gov- 
ernor and all his party. Ba- 
con was quickly marching on 
Jamestown with five hundred 
angry men at his back. The 
people refused to help the gov- 
ernor, and Bacon and his men 
entered Jamestown. It was their 
turn to guard the roads and keep Berkeley in. 

The old governor offered to fight the young captain 
single-handed, but Bacon told him he would not harm 
him. Bacon forced the governor to sign a commission 
appointing him a general. He also made the Legislature 
pass good laws for the relief of the people. These laws 
were remembered long after Nathaniel Bacon's death, and 
were known as " Bacon's Laws." 

While this work of doing away with bad laws and 
making good ones was going on, che Indians crept down 
to a place only about twenty miles from Jamestown and 
murdered the people. General Bacon promptly started for 
the Indian country with his little army. But, just as he 




BACON AND HIS MEN. 83 

was leaving the settlements, he heard that the governor 
was raising troops to take him when he should get back; so 
he turned about and marched swiftly back to Jamestown, 

The governor had called out the militia, but when they 
learned that instead of taking them to fight the Indians 
they were to go against Bacon, they all began to murmur 
"Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!" Then they left the field and 
went home, and the old governor fainted with disappoint- 
ment. He was forced to flee for safety to the eastern shore 
of Chesapeake Bay, and the government fell into the hands 
of General Bacon.. 

Bacon had an enemy on each side of him. No sooner 
had Berkeley gone than the Indians again began their mur- 
ders. Bacon once more marched against them, and killed 
many. He and his men lived on horseflesh and chinquapin 
nuts during this expedition. 

When Bacon got back to the settlements and had dis- 
missed all but one hundred and thirty-six of his men, he 
heard that Governor Berkeley had gathered together sev- 
enteen little vessels and six hundred sailors and others, and 
with these had taken possession of Jamestown. Worn out 
as they were with fatigue and hunger. Bacon persuaded his 
little band to march straight for Jamestown, so as to take 
Berkeley by surprise. 

As the weary and dusty heroes of the Indian war hur- 
ried onward to Jamestown, the people cheered the gallant 
little company. The women called after Bacon, " Gen- 
eral, if you need help, send for us! " So fast did these men 
march that they reached the narrow neck of sand that con- 



BACON AND HIS MEN. 



nected Jamestown with the mainland before the governor 
had heard of their coming. Bacon's men dug trenches in 
the night, and shut in the governor and his people. 

After a while Bacon got some cannon. He wanted to 
put them upon his breastworks without losing the life of 
any of his brave soldiers. So he sent to the plantations 
near by and brought to his camp the wives of the chief 
men in the governor's party. These ladies he made to 
sit down in front of his works until his cannon were in 
place. He knew that the enemy would not five on them. 

When he had finished, 
he politely sent them 
home. 

Great numbers of 
the people now flocked 
to General Bacon's 
standard, and the gov- 
ernor and his follow- 
ers left Jamestown in 
their vessels. Know- 
ing that they would try 
to return, Bacon or- 
dered the town to be 
burned to the ground. 
Almost all of the people except those on the eastern 
shore sided with Bacon, who now did his best to put the 
government in order. But the hardships he had been 
through were too much for him. He sickened and died. 
His friends knew that Berkeley Avould soon get control 



L^i^M«^ 


i 
1 


Wfi' -^Bc- -^-^ Jp^Um^i^sBBB^ 


i^, 1 


K 




^mp-'^: 


m?~- 


\,_..._ ^w^ 


! 



BACON'S DEFENSES. 



BACON AND HIS MEN. 85 

again, now that their leader was dead. They knew that 
his enemies would dig up Bacon's body and hang it, after 
the fashion of that time. Therefore they buried it nobody 
knows where; but as they put stones into his cofifin, they 
must have sunk it in the river. 

Governor Berkeley got back his power, and hanged 
many of Bacon's friends. But the King of England re- 
moved Berkeley in disgrace, and he died of . a broken 
heart. The governors who came after were generally care- 
ful not to oppress the people too far. They were afraid 
another Bacon might rise up against them. 

Gov'-ern-or's Coun'-cil, in some of the colonies a company of 
men appointed by the king or the governor, and having nearly the same 
powers as the State senates have nowadays. Legislature [lej'-is-la'- 
ture], the body or bodies of men chosen to make the laws. Sloop, 
a vessel with one mast. Sin'-gle-hand'-ecl, without help from others. 
Com-mis'-sion, a paper certifying one's appointment to an office. 
Chinquapin [ching'-ka-pin], a nut something like an acorn, which grows 
on a small tree in Virginia and elsewhere. Fatigue [fa-teeg'], weari- 
ness. Main '-land, the principal land, not an island. (Above the 
mainland is distinguished from Jamestown, which was not quite an island 
then.) Plan-ta'-tion, a Southern farm. Stand '-ard, the flag of an 
army or of a commander. 

Geographical Note. — See the map of Chesapeake Bay, on page 
29, to illustrate Berkeley's flight to the eastern shore of the Chesapeake. 

Tell in your own word.s — 

How were the people of Virginia oppressed ? 
How did Bacon come to go to the Indian wars.? 
How was Bacon arrested, and how did he escape? 
How did he drive Governor Berkeley out of Jamestown? 
What happened after Bacon's death ? 



86 



BOYHOOD OF FRANKLIN. 



XV. 




Boyhood of Franklin. 

Benjamin Franklin, the fif- 
teenth in a family of seventeen 
children, was born in Boston in 
1706. Benjamin learned to read 
when he was very young, but he 
was sent to school for only two 
years. When he was ten years 
old he had to help his father. 
Franklin's father made his living 
by boiling soap and making 
tallow candles. Little Benjamin 
had to cut wicks for the can- 
dles, fill the molds with the melt- 
ed tallow, tend the shop, and run on errands. He did 
not like the soap and candle trade. Playing about the 
water, he had learned to swim, and to manage a boat, when 
he was very young. Like many other boys, he got the 
notion that it would be a fine thing to go to sea and be 
a sailor. But his father did not think so. 

Franklin and his playmates used to fiish for minnows 
in a mill pond which had a salt marsh for a shore, so that 
the boys had to stand in the mud. He was a leader among 
the boys, and already very ingenious. So he proposed that 
the boys should build a little wharf in this marsh to stand 
on. Near the marsh there was a pile of stones, put there 
to be used in building a new house. In the evening, 



FRANKLIN BEGINS 

HIS EDUCATION 



BOYHOOD OF FRANKLIN. 



87 




when the workmen were gone, Franklin and the other 
boys tugged and toiled until they had managed to carry 
all these stones away and build them into a wharf, or 
pier, reaching out into the water. 

In the morning the workmen were very much surprised 
to find that their pile of stones had walked away during 
the night. They soon found out where the stones were, 
and complained to the parents of the boys. -Franklin and 
some of the other boys were punished for their mischief. 
Benjamin tried to make his father see that it was a 
very useful work to build such a pier, but the father 
soon showed him that " nothing was useful that was not 
honest." 

When Franklin had worked for two years with his fa- 
ther at the trade of making tallow candles, the father began 
to be afraid that Ben would run away and go to sea, as 
another of his sons had done before. So Franklin's father 
took him to walk with him sometimes, showing him men 
working at their trades, such as bricklaying, turning, and 
joining, hoping that the boy would take a fancy to one of 
these occupations. Meantime, Benjamin became very fond 
of reading. He read his father's books, which were very 
dull for children, and he sold some little things of his 
own to buy more. As the boy was so fond of books, 
Benjamin's father could think of nothing better than to 



88 BOYHOOD OF FRANKLIN. 

make him a printer. So Benjamin was apprenticed to his 
older brother, James Franklin, who already had a print- 
ing office. Benjamin liked this trade, and learned very 
fast. As he was often sent to bookstores, he got a 
chance to borrow books. He sometimes sat up all night 
to read one of these, taking great care to keep the books 
clean and to return them soon. 

Benjamin took a fancy to write poetry about this time. 
His brother printed this " wretched stuff," as Franklin after- 
wards called' it, and sent the boy around the town to ped- 
dle it. Ben was very proud of his poetry until his father 
made fun of it, and told him that " verse-makers were 
generally beggars." 

Franklin had a notion as a boy that it was wrong to 
eat meat, so he told his brother that if he would give 
him half of what his board cost, he would board himself. 
After this, Benjamin made his dinner on biscuit or a tart 
from the baker's. In this way he saved some of his board 
money to buy books, and used the time while the other 
printers were at dinner to study. 

James Franklin, Benjamin's brother, printed a little 
newspaper. Franklin was printer's boy and paper carrier, 
for after he had worked at printing the papers, he car- 
ried them around to the houses of the subscribers. But 
he also wanted to write for the paper. He did not dare 
propose so bold a thing to his brother, so he wrote some 
articles and put them under the printing-office door at 
night. They were printed, and even Benjamin's brother 
did not suspect that they were written by the boy. 



BOYHOOD OF FRANKLIN. 89 

The two brothers did not get on well together. The 
younger brother was rather saucy, and the older brother, 
who was high-tempered, sometimes gave him a whipping. 

James Franklin once printed something in his news- 
paper which offended the government of the colony. He 
was arrested and put into prison for a month; for the 
press was not free in that day. Benjamin published the 
paper while his brother was in prison, and put in the 
sharpest things he dared to say about the government. 
After James got out of prison he was forbidden to print 
a newspaper any longer. So he made up his mind to print 
it in the name of his brother Benjamin. In order to do 
this he was obliged to release Benjamin Franklin from his 
apprenticeship, though it was agreed that Ben was to re- 
main at work for his brother, as though still an apprentice, 
till he was twenty-one years old. But Benjamin soon got 
into another quarrel with his brother James, and, now 
that he was no longer bound, he left him. This was not 
fair on his part, and he was afterwards sorry for it. 

"Wharf [hworf], a place for boats to land ; in the text, a bank of 
stones reaching out into the water like a wharf. Mill pond, the water 
gathered by a milldam. Salt marsh, grass land over which the sea- 
water flows when the tide is high. Apprenticed [ap-pren'-tist], bound 
for a number of years to learn a trade. 

Tell — How Franklin and his friends built a wharf. 

About Franklin's father, and how Franklin came to learn the 

printing business. 
How Franklin managed to get books, and time to read them. 
Of Franklin's first writings. 
Of Franklin's brother, and his imprisonment. 
Of Franklin's quarrels with his brother. 



go FRANKLIN, THE PRINTER. 

XVI. 
Franklin, the Printer. 

When Ben Franklin left his brother he tried in vain to 
get a place in one of the other printing offices in Boston. 
But James Franklin had sent word to the other printers 
not to take Benjamin into their employ. There was no 
other town nearer than New York large enough to sup- 
port a printing office. Franklin, who was now but seven- 
teen years old, sold some of his books, and secretly got 
aboard a sloop ready to sail to New York. In New York 
he could find no work, but was recommended to try in 
Philadelphia. 

The modes of travel in that time were very rough. The 
easiest way of getting from Boston to New York was by 
sailing vessels. To get to Philadelphia, Franklin had first 
to take a sailboat to Amboy, in New Jersey. On the 
way a squall of wind tore the sails and drove the boat to 
anchor near the Long Island shore, where our runaway 
boy lay all night in the little hold of the boat, with the 
waves beating over the deck and the water leaking down 
on him. When at last he landed at Amboy, he had been 
thirty hours without anything to eat or any water to drink. 

Having but little money in his pocket, he had to walk 
from Amboy to Burlington ; and when, soaked with rain, 
he stopped at an inn, he cut such a figure that the people 
came near arresting him for a runaway bond servant, of 
whom there were many at that time. He thought he 
might better have stayed at home. 



FRANKLIN, THE PRINTER. 



91 



This tired and mud-bespattered young fellow got a chance 
to go from Burlington to Philadelphia in a rowboat by 
taking his turn at the oars. There were no street lamps in 
the town of Philadelphia, and the men in the boat passed 
the town without knowing it. Like forlorn tramps, they 
landed and made a fire of some fence rails. 

When they got back to Philadelphia in the morning, 
Franklin — who was to become in time the most famous 




franklin's entry into PHILADELPHIA. 



man in that town — walked up the street in his working 
clothes, which were badly soiled by his rough journey. 
His spare stockings and shirt were stuffed into his pock- 



92 FRANKLIN, THE PRINTER. 

ets. He bought three large rolls at a baker's shop. One 
of these he carried under each arm ; the other he munched 
as he walked. 

As he passed along the street a girl named Deborah 
Read stood in the door of her father's house, and laughed 
at the funny sight of a young fellow with bulging pockets 
and a roll under each arm. Years afterwards this same 
Deborah was married to Franklin. 

Franklin got a place to work with a printer named 
Keimer. He was now only a poor printer-boy, in leather 
breeches such as workingmen wore at that time. But, 
though he looked poor, he was already different from 
most of the boys in Philadelphia. He was a lover of good 
books. The boy who has learned to read the best books 
will be an educated man, with or without schools. The 
great difference between people is shown in the way they 
spend their leisure time. Franklin, when not studying, 
spent his evenings with a few young men who were also 
fond of books. Here is the sort of young man that will 
come to something. 

I suppose people began to notice and talk about this 
studious young workman. One day Keimer, the printer 
for whom Franklin was at work, saw, coming toward his 
ofifice. Sir William Keith, the governor of the province of 
Pennsylvania, and another gentleman, both finely dressed 
after the fashion of the time, in powdered periwigs and 
silver knee buckles, much as you see in the picture on the 
next page. Keimer was delighted to have such visitors, 
and he ran down to meet the great men. But imagine his 



FRANKLIN, THE PRINTER. 



93 



disappointment when the governor asked to see FrankHn, 
and led away the young printer in leather breeches to 
talk with him in the tavern. 

The governor wanted Franklin to set up a printing office 
of his own, because both Keimer and the other master 
printer in Philadelphia were poor workmen. 
But Franklin had no money, and it took a 
great deal to buy a printing press and types 
in that day. Franklin told 
the governor that he did 
not believe his father would 
help him to buy an outfit. 
But the governor wrote a 
letter himself to Frank- 
lin's father, asking him to 
start Benjamin in business. 

So Franklin went back 
to Boston in a better plight 
than that in which he 
had left. He had on a 
brand new suit of clothes, 

he carried a watch, and he had some silver in his pock- 
ets. His father and mother were glad to see him once 
more, but his father told him he was too young to start 
in business for himself. 

Franklin returned to Philadelphia. Governor Keith, 
who was one of those fine gentlemen that make many prom- 
ising speeches, now offered to start Franklin himself. He 
wanted him to go to London to buy the printing press. 




FRANKLIN AND THE GOVERNOR. 



94 FRANKLIN, THE PRINTER. 

He promised to give the young man letters to people in 
London, and one that would get him the money to buy 
the press. 

But, somehow, every time that Franklin called on the 
governor for the letters he was told to call again. At last 
Franklin went on shipboard, thinking the governor had 
sent the letters in the ship's letter bag. Before the ship 
got to England the bag was opened, and no letters for 
Franklin were found. A gentleman now told Franklin that 
Keith made a great many such promises, but he never kept 
them. Fine clothes do not make a fine gentleman. 

So F"ranklin was left in London without money or 
friends. But he got work as a printer, and learned some 
things about the business that he could not learn in America. 
The English printers drank a great deal of beer. They 
laughed at Franklin because he did not drink beer, and they 
called him the " Water American." But he wasn't a fellow 
to be afraid of ridicule. They told him that water would 
make him weak, but they were surprised to find him able 
to lift more than any of them. He was also the strongest 
and most expert swimmer of all. In London he kept up his 
reading. He paid a man who kept a secondhand book- 
store for permission to read his books. 

Franklin came back to Philadelphia as clerk for a mer- 
chant ; but the merchant soon died, and Franklin went to 
work again for his old master, Keimer. He was very use- 
ful, for he could make ink and cast type when they were 
needed, and he also engraved some designs on type metal. 
Keimer once fell out with Franklin, and discharged him; 



FRANKLIN, THE PRINTER. 



95 



but he begged him to come back when there was some 
paper money to be printed, which Keimer could not print 
without Frankhn's help in making the engravings. 

Squall, a sudden and violent gust of wind. Bond serv'-ant, 
a person sold into a kind of slavery for four years or more, to pay his 
passage from Europe, according to a practice very common in the last 
century. Bulg'-ing, swelling out. Per'-i-wig, a wig, a cap of false 
hair, much worn by fashionable gentlemen in former times, and usually 
sprinkled with a white powder. Knee bue'-kles, buckles used to 
fasten the short breeches, worn in old times just below the knees, and to 
hold up the long stockings. Out'-fit, articles of every sort necessary to 
begin any business, journey, or expedition with. Plight, condition. 
Print'-ing press, a machine by which paper is pressed against type 
covered with ink; any machine for printing. Type met'-al, a mixed 
metal used to make types for printing. 

Tell — About Franklin's journey from Boston to Philadelphia. 
About his arrival in Philadelphia. 
His life in Philadelphia. 
His journey to England, 
His return to Philadelohia. 



XVII. 
The Great Doctor Franklin. 

After a time Franklin started 
a printing office of his own. He was 
very much in debt for his printing 
press and types. To pay for them 
he worked very hard. Men saw him 
at work when they got up in the 
morning, and when they went to bed at night the candle' 
in his office was still shining. When he wanted paper he 




PRINTING PRESS OF FRANKLIN'S TIME. 



96 THE GREAT DOCTOR FRANKLIN. 

would sometimes take the wheelbarrow himself and bring 
it from the store at which he bought it to his printing 
office. 

People began to say: " What an honest, hard-working 
young man that Franklin is! He is sure to get on ! " And 
then, to help him get on, they brought their work to his 
office. 

He started a newspaper. Now his reading of good 
books and his practice in writing since he was a little boy 
helped him. He could write intelligently on almost any 
subject, and his paper was the best one printed in all 
America at that time. 

Franklin married Miss Deborah Read, the same who 
had laughed when she saw him walking the street with a 
roll under each arm and his spare clothes in his pockets. 
His wife helped him to attend the shop, for he sold station- 
ery in connection with his printing. They kept no servant, 
and Franklin ate his breakfast of plain bread and milk out 
of an earthen porringer with a pewter spoon. In time he 
paid off all his debts and began to grow rich. 

In those days books were scarce and people had but few 
of them. But everybody bought an almanac. Franklin 
published one of these useful little pamphlets every year. 
It was known as " Poor Richard's Almanac," because it 
pretended to be written by a poor man named Richard 
Saunders, though everybody knew that Richard was Frank- 
lin himself. This almanac was very popular on account of 
•the wise and witty sayings of Poor Richard about saving 
time and money. 



THE GREAT DOCTOR FRANKLIN. 97 

Franklin did not spend all his time making money. He 
studied hard as usual, and succeeded in learning several 
languages without the help of a teacher. This knowledge 
was afterwards of the greatest use to him. 

Like other people in America at that time, he found it 
hard to get the books he wanted. To help himself and to 
do good to others, he started a public library in Philadel- 
phia, which was the first ever started in America. Many 
like it were established in other towns, and the people in 
America soon had books within their reach. It was ob- 
served, after a while, that plain people in America knew more 
than people in the same circumstances in other countries. 

Franklin did many other things for the public. Seeing 
how wasteful the old fireplaces were, since they burned a 
great deal of wood and made the rooms cold 
and full of draughts, and often filled the 
house with smoke, he invented a system of 
saving heat by means of a small iron fire- 
place or open stove. He founded a high 
school, which afterwards became a great 
university. When the frontier people were 
slain by Indians during the French War, 
he was the chief man in raising and arming troops for 
their relief. 

These and other acts of the sort made Franklin well 
known in Pennsylvania. But he presently did one thing 
which made him famous all the world over. This one 
thing was accomplished in a very short time ; but it came 
from the habits of study he formed when he was a little 




FRANKLIN'S FIREPLACE. 



98 



THE GREAT DOCTOR FRANKLIN. 



g,-^' boy. He was always reading, to 



' r "^ "% " get more knowledge, and making 
experiments, to find out things. Peo- 
7^ pie did not know a great deal about 

/ electricity at that time. In Europe many learned 
V men weVe trying to find out what they could about 
various^ sorts of electricity, and lectures on the subject 
had been given iiV Philadelphia, Something made Franklin 
think that the elVctricity which was produced by a ma- 
chine was of the \same nature as the lightning in the 
sky. So he devised^ a plan to find out. He set a trap 
to catch the lightning\ He made a kite by stretching a 
silk handkerchief on a frame. Then he fastened a metal 
point to the kite and tied a hemp string to it to fiy it 
with. He thought that il lightning were electricity, it 
would go from the metal point down the hemp string. At 
the lower end of the string lie tied a key, and a silk 
string to catch hold of, so thai he should not let the 
electricity escape through his hand. 

Franklin knew that if a ejrown mark were seen , '/,/// 
flying a kite he would soon be surrounded by '/'/'''/ 
a crowd. So one stormy night he went mit 
and sent up his kite. He waited under a 
shed to see if the electricity would come. 
When he saw the little fibers of the hemp 
stand up charged with electricity, he held 
his hand near the key and felt a shock. 
Then he went home, the only man in 
the world that knew certainly that light- 




THE GREAT DOCTOR FRANKLIN. 99 

ning was electricity. When he had found out this secret 
he invented the hghtning rod, which takes electricity from 
the air to the earth and keeps it from doing harm. 

When the learned men of Europe heard that a man 
Avho had hardly ever been at school had made a great dis- 
covery, they were struck with wonder, and Franklin was 
soon considered one of the great men of the world, and 
was called Dr. Franklin. 

When the troubles between England and her colonies 
began, there was no one so suitable to make peace as 
the famous Dr. Franklin. Franklin went to England and 
tried hard to settle matters. But he would not consent to 
any plan by which Americans should give up their rights. 

Wnien the war broke out Dr. Franklin came home 
again. He was made a member of Congress, and he 
helped to make the Declaration of Independence. After 
the Americans had declared themselves independent they 
found it a hard task to fight against so powerful a coun- 
try as England. They wanted to get some other country 
to help them. So Franklin, who was well known in Eu- 
rope, and who had studied French when he was a poor 
printer, was sent to France. 

When Franklin went to France he had to appear at the 
finest court in the world. But in the midst of all the dis- 
play and luxury of the French court he wore plain clothes, 
and did not pretend to be anything more than he was in 
Philadelphia. This pleased the French, who admired his 
independent spirit and called him " the philosopher." He 
persuaded the French Government to give money and 



lOO 



THE GREAT DOCTOR FRANKLIN. 



arms to the Americans. He fitted out vessels to attack 
English ships, and during tlie whole War of the Revolution 
he did much for his country. 

When the war was ended there came the hard task of 
making peace. In this Franklin took a leading part. 

When peace had been made, Dr. Franklin set out to 
leave Paris. As he was old and feeble, the queen's litter, 




FRANKLIN ON THE QUEEN'S UTTER. 



which was carried by mules, was furnished to him. On 
this litter he traveled till he reached the sea. After he 
got home he was the most honored man in America next 
to Washington. He became a member of the Convention 
of 1787, which formed the Constitution of the United 
States. He died in 1790, at the age of eighty-four. 

When Franklin was a boy his father used to repeat to 
him Solomon's proverb, " Seest thou a man diligent in his 
business ? he shall stand before kings." This was always 



THE GREAT DOCTOR FRANKLIN. lOI 

an encouragement to him, though he did not expect really 
to stand before kings. But he was presented to five dif- 
ferent kings in his lifetime. 

Por'-rin-ger, a kind of bowl, out of which porridge is eaten. 
Draughts [pronounced drafts']. Frontier [fron'-teer], the outer edge 
of white men's setdements next the Indian country. " Frontier people," in 
the text, are the people living nearest to the wilderness occupied by Indians. 
[The word frontier sometimes refers to the region lying near the line be- 
tween two countries.] Fi'-bers, fine, thread-like bits, such as you will 
find if you pick a piece of twine to pieces, and which may be seen sticking 
out from a piece of rough string. Shock, the feeling that one has on re- 
ceiving electricity into the person from a body charged with it. Court 
here means the palace of a king ; also the attendants and ministers who 
are about his person or carry on his government. Lux'-u-ry, rich food, 
dress, and pleasures of any kind. Phi-los'-o-pher, one who acts calmly 
and wisely, according to reason. Lit'-ter, a framework supporting a sort 
of bed, on which a person may be carried by men or horses. Con-sti- 
tu'-tion, in our country, a written plan of government which tells how 
and by whom the laws shall be made and carried out, and what kind of 
laws may be made, and what kind may not be made. 

Tell in your own words about — 

How Franklin succeeded in his own printing office. 

His industry. 

His economy. 

His newspaper. 

His almanac. 
Tell also of — His other employments. 

His studies. 

The public library that he founded. 

The fireplace he invented. 

His public services in the French War. 
Tell what you can about his great discovery. 
Tell about — His services during the Revolution. 

What he did in England. 

What he did in France. 

His return home when he was old. 



I02 



YOUNG GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



XVIII. 

Young George Washington. 

George Washing- 
ton was born in a 
plain, old-fashioned 
house in Westmore- 
land County, Vir- 
ginia, on the twen- 
ty-second day of 
February, 1732. He 
was sent to what 
was called an " old- 
field school." The 
country school- 
houses in Virginia at 
that time were built 
in fields too much worn out to grow anything. Little 
George Washington went to a school taught by a man 
named Hobby. 

In that day the land in Virginia was left to the oldest 
son, after the custom in England, for Virginia was an Eng- 
lish colony. As George's elder brother Lawrence was to 
have the land and be the great gentleman of the family, 
he had been sent to England for his education. When he 
got back, with many a strange story of England to tell, 
George became very proud of him, and Lawrence was 
equally pleased with his manly little brother. When Law- 
rence went away as a captain, in the regiment raised in 




WASHINGTON'S FIRST COMMAND. 



YOUNG GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



103 



America for service in the English army against the 
Spaniards in the West Indies, George began to think 
much of a soldier's life, and to drill the boys in Hobby's 
school. There were marches and parades and bloodless 
battles fought among the tufts of broom straw in the old 
field, and in these young George was captain. 

This play-captain soon came to be a tall boy. He 
could run swiftly, and he 
was a powerful wrestler. 
The stories of the long 
jumps he made are almost 
beyond belief. It was also 
said that he could throw 
farther than anybody else. 
The people of that day 
went everywhere on horse- 
back, and George was not 
afraid to get astride of the 
wildest horse or an un- 
broken colt. These things 
proved that he was a 
strongly built and fearless 
boy. But a better thing 
is told of him. He was 
so just, that his schoolmates used to bring their quarrels 
for him to settle. 

When Washington was eleven years old his father 
died, but his mother took pains to bring him up with 
manly ideas. He was now sent to school to a Mr. 




WASHINGTON BREAKING A COLT. 



I04 YOUNG GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Williams, from whom he learned reading, writing, and 
arithmetic. To these were added a little bookkeeping 
and surveying. 

George took great pains with all he did. His copy- 
books have been kept, and they show that his handwrit- 
ing was very neat. He also wrote out over one hundred 
" rules for behavior in company." You see that he wished 
to be a gentleman in every way. 

His brother Lawrence wished George to learn to be 
a seaman, and George himself liked the notion of going 
to sea. But his mother was unwilling to part with him. 
So he stayed at school until he was sixteen years old. 

A great deal of the northern part of Virginia at this 
time belonged to Lord Fairfax, an eccentric nobleman, 
whose estates ' included many whole counties. George 
Washington must have studied his books of surveying 
very carefully, for he was only a large boy when he was 
employed to go over beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains 
and survey some of the wild lands of Lord Fairfax. 

So, when he was just sixteen years old, young Wash- 
ington accepted the offer of Lord Fairfax, and set out for 
the wilderness. He crossed rough mountains and rode his 
horse through swollen streams. The settlers' beds were 
only masses of straw, with, perhaps, a ragged blanket. 
But George slept most of the time out under the sky by 
a camp fire, with a little hay, straw, or fodder for a bed. 
Sometimes men and women and children slept around these 
fires, " like cats and dogs," as Washington wrote, " and 
happy is he who gets nearest the fire." Once the straw 



YOUNG GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



105 




on which the young surveyor was asleep blazed up, and 

he might have been consumed if one of the party had 

not waked him in time. Washington must have been 

a pretty good surveyor, for he re- y 

ceived large pay for his work, earn- >.'^"'^' 

ing from seven to twenty-one dol- ,^ 

lars a day, at a time when things 

were much cheaper than they are 

now. 

The food of people in the woods 
was the fiesh of wild turkey and 
other game. Every man was his 
own cook, toasting his meat on a 
forked stick, and eating it off a 
chip instead of a plate. Washing- 
ton led this rough life for three years. It was a good 
school for a soldier. Here, too, he made his first acquaint- 
ance with the Indians. He saw a party of them dance to 
the music of a drum made by stretching deerskin very 
tight over the top of a pot half full of water. 
They also had a rattle, made by putting 
shot into a gourd. They took pains to tie 
.N\ a piece of a horse's tail to the gourd, so as 
to see the horsehair switch to and fro 
when the gourd was shaken. 
When Washington was but nineteen years old 
the governor of Virginia made him a major of 
He took lessons in military drill from an old sol- 
dier, and practiced sword exercises under the instruction 



TOASTING MEAT BY A CAMP FIRE. 




io6 



YOUNG GEORGE WASHINGTON.' 




-fi^ 



WASHINGTON AND VAN BRAAM. 



of a Dutch- 
man named 
Van Braam 
[brahm]. The 
people in Vir- 
ginia and the 
other colonies 
were looking 
forward to a 
war with the 
French, who 
in that day had 
colonies in Can- 
ada and Louisiana. They claimed the country west of the 
Alleghany Mountains. The English colonists had spread 
over most of the country east of the mountains, and they 
were beginning to cross the Alleghanies. But the French 
built forts on the west side of the mountains, and stirred 
up the Indians to prevent the English settlers from coming 
over into the rich valley of the Ohio River. 

The governor of Virginia resolved to send an officer 
to warn the French that they were on English ground. 
Who was so fit to go on this hard and dangerous errand 
as the brave young Major Washington, who knew both 
the woods and the ways of the Indians ? So Washington 
set out with a few hardy frontiersmen. When at length, 
after crossing swollen streams and rough mountains, he 
got over to the Ohio River, where all was wilderness, he 
called the Indians together and had a big talk with them. 



YOUNG GEORGE WASHINGTON. lO/ 

at a place called Logtown. He got a chief called " The 
Half-king," and some other Indians, to go with him to the 
French fort. 

The French officers had no notion of giving up their 
fort to the English. They liked this brave and gentle- 
manly young Major Washington, and entertained him well. 
But they tried to get the Half-king and his Indians to 
leave Washington, and did what they could to keep him 
from getting safe home again. With a great deal of 
trouble he got his Indians away from the French fort at 
last, and started back. Part of the way they traveled in 
canoes, jumping out into the icy water now and then to 
lift the canoes over shallow places. 

When Washington came to the place where he was to 
leave the Indians and recross the mountains, his pack 
horses were found to be so weak that they were unfit for 
their work. So Major Washington gave up his saddle 
horse to carry the baggage. Then he strapped a pack on 
his back, shouldered his gun, and with a man named Gist 
set out ahead of the rest of the party. 

Washington and Gist had a rascally Indian for guide. 
When Washington was tired this fellow wished to carry 
his gun for him, but the young major thought the gun 
safer in his own hands. At length, as evening came on, 
the Indian turned suddenly, leveled his gun, and fired on 
Washington and Gist, in the dark, but without hitting 
either of them. They seized him before he could reload 
his gun. Gist wanted to kill him, but Washington thought 
it better to let him go. 



io8 



YOUxNG GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



Afraid of being 
attacked, they now 
traveled night and 
day till they got to 
the Allegheny Riv- 
er. This was full 
of floating ice, and 
they tried to cross 
it on a raft. Wash- 
ington was push- 
ing the raft with a 
pole, when the ice 
caught the pole in 
such a way as to 
fling him into the 
river. He caught 
hold of the raft and 
got out again. He 
and Gist spent the cold night on an island in the river, 
and got ashore in the morning by walking on the ice. 

They now stopped at the house of an Indian trader. 
Near by was a squaw chief, who was offended that she 
had not been asked to the council Washington had held 
with the Indians at Logtown. To make friends, he paid 
her a visit, and presented her with a blanket such as the 
Indians wear on their shoulders. Washington bought a 
horse here, and soon got back to the settlements, where the 
story of the adventures of the young major was told from 
one plantation to another, producing much excitement. 




THE INDIAN ATTACKS WASHINGTON. 



YOUNG GEORGE WASHINGTON. IO9 

Reg'-i-ment, a body of soldiers consisting of a number of compa- 
nies, commanded by a colonel. Ec-cen'-tric, odd; peculiar in life or 
manners. Sur-vey', to run the lines between different pieces of land, 
and find out the quantity of land in each tract. Pack horses, horses 
used for carrying baggage. Raft, several logs, timbers, or boards fas- 
tened so as to float together in the water. In'-dian trad'-er, a white 
man who sells goods to Indians and buys the skins of animals from them. 

Tell — Where Washington was born. 

What schools he attended and the studies he pursued. 

Other facts about his boyhood. 

Of his surveying, and the life in the woods. 

About the French on the west of the mountains. 

Of Washington's journey to the French fort. 

His adventures during his return. 



XIX. 

Washington in the French War. 

When Washington got back from the western side of 
the mountains, it became evident to the governor of Vir- 
ginia that the French must be either driven away or the 
English people must be shut in to the country on the east 
of the mountains. The people in the colonies did not like 
the notion of being fenced in like a lot of cattle in a pas- 
ture. So Washington was again sent to the West in 1754, 
to take possession of the country. On his first trip he 
had seen the point where the Allegheny [al-le-ga'-ny] and 
Monongahela [mo-non'-ga-hee'-lah] rivers meet, which he 
thought would be a good place for a fort. A small compa- 
ny of men were sent ahead to build a fort at this place; but 
the French drove them away, and planted a fort of their own 
on the ground. This was called Fort Duquesne [du-kane']. 



no 



WASHINGTON IN THE FRENCH WAR. 



THIS MAP SHOWS WASHINGTON'S HOME AT MOUNT 
VERNON; THE SCENE OF HIS SURVEYING; THE 
COUNTRY THROUGH WHICH HE PASSED IN HIS 
JOURNEY TO FORT VENANGO ; AND THE ROUTE 
OF BRADDOCK'S ARMY FROM WINCHESTER TO 
THE PLACE OF ITS DEFEAT. 




Though the 
French in Amer- 
ica were not many, they 
were nearly all soldiers. So when 
Washington with his party had 
got through the wild mountains 
into the western wilderness he found that there were many 
more soldiers on the French side than he had. Hearing 
that a French party was dogging his steps, he marched 



WASHINGTON IN THE FRENCH WAR. 



Ill 



in the night and surrounded them. After a sharp skirmish 
the French fled, but were nearly all captured. This little 
fight was George Washing- 
ton's first battle. 

But Washington soon 
found that he must retreat 
or be taken. He fell back 
to a place called Great 
Meadows, where he built a 
sort of fort and called it 
Fort Necessity. Here the 
Half-king in despair left 
him, and the French at- 
tacked his little force. 
After the conflict had last- 
ed one day, Washington, 
seeing himself outnumbered, 
agreed to march out of the 
fort and return to the set- 
tlements, which he did. 
This expedition of Wash- 
ington's was the beginning of a great war between Eng- 
land and France. 

The next year troops were sent from England under 
General Braddock, who set out to drive the French from 
Fort Duquesne. Braddock was a brave man, but one of 
the sort who can not learn anything. He laughed at 
the lank and careless-looking American troops, who cut a 
sorry figure alongside of the English with their bright red 




IN FORT NECESSITY. 



112 



WASHINGTON IN THE FRENCH WAR. 



coats and fine drill. He was sure that these rough Amer- 
icans were of no use. Even American officers were treat- 
ed with contempt by the British authorities, and were not 
allowed to rank with English officers. Washington was 
so stung by this that he resigned his place, but he ac- 
cepted a position on Braddock's staff. 

Rough as the mountain roads were, Braddock traveled 
in a coach as far as he could, and tried to keep up the dis- 
play common in Europe. He said that the Indians would 
not prove formidable when they came to fight his well- 
drilled English troops. Washington could not persuade the 
general to send scouts on either side of his line. One day 

there came to 
Braddock a com- 
pany of woods- 
men in hunting 
shirts. They 

were command- 
ed by the fa- 
mous Captain 
Jack, who was 
known as the 
" Black Hunt- 
er " of Pennsyl- 
vania. Captain 
Jack's whole fam- 
ily had been killed 
He had then taken to 
the woods, and devoted himself to revenging the death 




GENERAL BRADDOCK AND CAPTAIN JACK. 



by the savages in his absence. 



WASHINGTON IN THE FRENCH WAR. II3 

of his family and to protecting the settlers. He and his 
followers lived in the forest, and kept the Indians in con- 
stant fear of them. This Captain Jack, and all his men, 
came to General Braddock and offered to help him as 
scouts. But Braddock put all his confidence in his solid 
ranks of English soldiers, and he foolishly refused the offer 
of the Black Hunter and his men. 

As the army drew near to Fort Duquesne, Washington 
suggested to the commander that the Virginia rangers 
should be sent in front, because they were used to the 
woods. But Braddock was angry to think that a young 
American should advise an old British general. 

On the 9th of Jul}-, 1755, as Braddock's army was 
marching along the narrow track through the woods, the 
Indians and French attacked them. AH at once the woods 
rang with the wild war cry of the Indians, like the bark- 
ing of a thousand wild animals. The forest, but a minute 
before so silent, was alive with screaming savages. From 
every tree and thicket the Indians leveled their rifles at the 
red coats of the English, who fell like pigeons under their 
fire. Unable to see anybody to shoot at, the English sol- 
diers did not know what to do. The Americans took to 
the trees and stumps and returned the fire in Indian fash- 
ion, and Washington begged the general to order the Brit- 
ish to do the same; but Braddock made them stand up 
in line, where they could easily be shot down. 

Braddock fought bravely, and fell at length mortally 
wounded. Colonel Washington did his best to rally the 
men and save the battle. He had two horses shot under 



114 WASHINGTON IN THE FRENCH WAR. 

him, and four bullets went through his coat. The army, 
so gay and brave in the morning, was soon broken to 
pieces, and the men fled back to the settlements. 

But Washington had become the hero of the people. 
He was now put in chief command of the Virginia troops in 
defense of the frontier, and managed affairs well. In 1758 
he commanded the foremost division in an expedition un- 
der General Forbes, which slowly cut its way through the 
rough wilderness of Pennsylvania, and, having at last got 
over the mountains, forced the French to leave Fort Du- 
quesne. The fort was rebuilt by the English and renamed 
Fort Pitt, in honor of William Pitt, the great prime minis- 
ter of England, who was a true friend to the Americans. 
When a town grew around Fort Pitt it was called Pittsburg. 

The war between the English and the French was 
finally closed in 1763. Canada, with all the country east 
of the Mississippi, was given up to the English, and settlers 
soon began to make their way into the region now known 
as Kentucky and Tennessee. 

Before the war closed Washington retired to his home 

at Mount Vernon, and was married to Mrs. Martha Custis, 

a widow. 

Scouts, soldiers sent out, singly or in small parties, to search for 
hidden enemies and to gain informatioa, Woods '-man, a man skilled 
in the ways of living and travehng in the woods. Hunt'-ing shirt, 
a loose shirt or jacket, at first made of deerskin, but sometimes of home- 
spun cloth, and worn by hunters. Ranks, rows or lines of soldiers. 
Rang'-ers, troops employed to range, or ride through the woods and 
guard the settlements from Indians. Wounded [woond'-ed], injured as 
by a cut or a gunshot. Mor'-tal-ly ^A/■ounded, so badly wounded 
as to cause death after a while. 



WASHINGTON IN THE FRENCH WAR. II5 

Tell — How Washington's first battle came about. 

How Washington was defeated at Fort Necessity. 

How General Braddock marched. 

About Braddock's defeat. 

How Fort Duquesne was taken at last. 

The result of the war between the English and French colonies. 
Also tell — About Captain Jack. 

About Washington in battle. 

About Washington's marriage. 



XX. 
Washington in tlie Revolution. 

Washington lived for many years quietly at Mount 
Vernon, and he did not intend to have anything more to 
do with a soldier's life. He was fond of hunting and fish- 
ing. He sometimes helped to haul a seine in the Potomac 
River. He rode over his large plantation to see that all 
went well, and he made maps of all his fields, and kept 
his accounts carefully and neatly, as he had always done. 
All traveling strangers were sure of welcome at his house, 
and the poor, when in danger of suffering, were provided 
with corn from his granary. 

But, as time went on, the English Parliament tried to 
collect a tax from the Americans. The Americans declared 
that, so long as they elected no members of Parliament, 
that body had no right to tax them without their consent. 
But the men who governed in England did not think that 
people in the colonies had the same rights as people in 
England, so they oppressed the Americans in many ways. 
Without asking consent of the colonies, they put a tax on 



I l6 WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION. 

all the tea that came into America; and when some of 
the tea got to Boston, the people turned Boston Harbor 
into one big teapot by pitching the whole shipload of 
tea into the water. The English government resolved to 
punish Boston, but the other colonies took sides with the 
people of that town. 

In order to make the English government cease their 
oppressions, the Americans agreed not to wear clothes 
made of English cloth, nor to use anything else brought 
from England. Washington and other great gentlemen 
of that time put on homespun American clothes, which 
were coarse, for the Americans had not yet learned how 
to make fine goods. American ladies, who were extreme- 
ly fond of tea, which they drank from pretty little cups 
brought from China, now gave up their favorite drink. 
Instead of it, they sipped a tea made from the leaves of the 
sage plants in their gardens, or from the roots and flowers 
of the sassafras. Probably they tried to drink these home- 
grown teas with cheerful faces, and to make believe that 
they liked sage and sassafras as well as the real tea from 
China. It must have been a pleasure to feel that they 
were fighting a battle for liberty over their tea tables. 

Washington, in his quiet way, was a strong supporter 
of liberty against the King of England and the Parliament. 
In order to bring all the thirteen colonies to stand by one 
another against England a meeting, called a " Congress," 
was appointed in 1774, and men were sent from each 
colony to attend it. Washington was a member of this 
Congress, which sent a letter to the king, demanding that 




WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION. 



117 



MiNUTEMAN. 



they should be allowed the same liberties as 
his subjects in England. 

But neither the King of England nor the 
English Parliament would repeal the laws 
which the Americans disliked. As the Ameri- 
cans would not obey them, the quarrel grew 
hotter, and English troops were sent to bring 
the Americans to submit. On the 19th of 
April, 1775, the Revolutionary War was be- 
gun by a battle at Lexington, near Boston, 
between British troops and American farmers. 

These farmers, who were called " minutemen," drove the 

troops back into Boston, firing on them from every field 

and fence as they retreated. 

Seeing that war had begun, Congress looked about for 

a leader. They remembered the prudent and brave con- 
duct of Colonel George 

Washington, when a young ,..""««» — *-■ 

man, in the French and <^ 

Indian War. He was chosen 

to be general and commander 

in chief of all the armies of the 

colonies. 

Before Washington reached 

the army near Boston, the battle 

of Bunker Hill had taken place. 

In this battle the Americans had 

been driven from the hill, but their 

little force of plain countrymen had 




THIS MAP SHOWS THE 

SCENES OF THE 

FIRST BATTLES OF THE 

REVOLUTION. 



Ii8 



WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION. 



fought SO stubbornly against the well-trained English 
troops that all America was encouraged. 

For many months Washington kept a fine British army 
shut up in Boston. When he was strong enough he 
suddenly sent a body of troops to Dorchester Heights, 
near Boston, where, by the help of bales of hay, breast- 
works were built in a single night. When the English 
general saw these works, he said, " The rebels have done 
more in one night than my army would have done in 
one month." The Americans began to throw shells from 
the Dorchester battery into Boston, which soon became so 
uncomfortable a place to stay in that the English army 
got into ships and sailed away. 




CROSSING THE DELAWARE. 



The Americans at first were fighting only to get their 
rights as subjects of England. But since neither the King 



WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION. 



119 



nor the Parliament of England would let them have their 
rights, they got tired of calling themselves Englishmen. 
They determined to set up an independent government. 
On the 4th of July, 1776, Congress declared the colonies 
" free and independent." This 
is called the " Declaration 
of Independence." 

Soon after the Dec- 
laration was adopted 
the English govern- 
ment sent a fleet 
and an army to 
take New York. 
Washington fought 
against the English 

army on Long Is- >^^ "- \A\% "xHl ti ^ 'W 

land, and was defeated 
and forced to give up 
New York. After a while 
he had to fall back across New 
Jersey. It seemed as though all 

were lost. But though his men were too few to fight the 
whole English army, Washington felt that he must strike 
a blow at some part of it in order to give the Ameri- 
cans courage. The English people did not like the war 
against the Americans, so the king had hired some Hes- 
sian soldiers to fight for him. About a thousand of these 
were in Trenton, N. J., while Washington was on the 
other side of the Delaware, a little way off. On Christmas 




MARCH TO TRENTON. 



I20 



WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION. 



night the Hessians were celebrating the day. Washing- 
ton celebrated it in his own fashion. He took part of his 
army, and crossed the Delaware in the midst of floating 
ice. There was a severe snowstorm, and two of his men 
were frozen to death. He marched quickly to Trenton, 
and after a sharp fight he took about a thousand pris- 
oners, as Christmas presents for his country. 

Washington got back across the Delaware with his 
prisoners, but in a few days he was again in Trenton, where 
he came near being surrounded and captured by the Eng- 
lish general Cornwallis. The 
Delaware was so full of ice 
that the Americans could not 
get back to the other side of 
it, and a strong English force 
was pressing upon them in 
front. Something must be 
done quickly. So at night 
Washington had all his camp 
fires built up, in order to 
deceive the enemy. He put 
a few men to digging in the 
trenches, and had them make 
as much noise as possible. 
Then he took his army silent- 
ly by a back road around 
the English army till he got 
behind it. While Cornwallis 
thought he had Washington 




TnlS MAP SHOWS HOW 

WASHINGTON EVADED THE 

BRITISH FORCES AT TRENTON 

AND MARCHED ON PRINCETON. 



WASHINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION. 121 

cooped up in Trenton, the Americans were marching on 
Princeton, where there was a detachment of the Enghsh 
troops. Washington, after a sharp battle, defeated the 
EngHsh in Princeton. CornwalHs had gone to bed boast- 
ing that he "would bag the fox" in the morning; but 
when morning came, "the fox" was gone. CornwalHs 
thought at first that the Americans had retreated across 
the Delaware, but soon he heard the booming of cannons 
away behind him at Princeton ; then he knew that Wash- 
ington had outwitted him. He had to hasten back to 
New Brunswick to save his stores, while Washington went 
into the hills at Morristown, having forced the British to 
give up the greater part of New Jersey. 

Seine [sain], a long net for catching fish, which is dragged through 
the water by men pulling at each end of it. Gran'-a-ry, a building for 
storing grain. Parliament [par'-li-ment], the body of men which makes 
the laws of England, consisting of the House of Lords and the House of 
Commons. Breast'-AArorks, ridges of earth thrown up to protect an 
army in battle. Fleet, a number of ships of war under the command of 
one officer. Out->A^lt'-ted, defeated by greater ingenuity or cunning. 

Tell m your own words about — • 

Washington's life at Mount Vernon. 

The quarrel with England. 

The beginning of the Revolutionary War. 

The battles near Boston. 

Washington's retreat from New York. 

The capture of Trenton. 

The battle of Princeton. 
Tell also what you remember about — 

The tea in Boston Harbor. 

What the Americans wore, and what they used for tea 



122 THE VICTORY AT YORKTOWN. 

XXI. 
The Victory at Yorktown and Washington as President. 

In larger histories you will read of the many battles of 
the Revolution, and of the sad sufferings of Washington's 
soldiers, who were sometimes obliged to march barefoot, 
leaving tracks of blood on the frozen ground. Sometimes 
a soldier had to sit by the fire all night for want of a 
blanket to cover himself Avith. There were not many peo- 
ple in this country then, and they were mostly farmers, 
with but little money. They were fighting against Eng- 
land, which was the richest and strongest nation of that 
time. But after a while France sent men and ships to 
help the United States to finish the war. 

The Revolutionary War lasted about seven years in 
all. A great victory which Washington gained when the 
war had lasted more than six years really finished the 
struggle. 

General Cornwallis, the same whom Washington had 
fooled when he slipped out of Trenton, had won several 
victories over American troops in the Southern States. 
But he could not subdue the people, who were always 
ready to rise up again when he thought he had conquered 
them. Cornwallis marched northward from Carolina into 
Virginia, where he did a great deal of damage. Wash- 
ington was in the North watching New York, which was 
occupied by English troops. He thought if he could cap- 
ture the fine army which Cornwallis commanded in Virginia 
he might end the war. 



THE VICTORY AT YORKTOWN. 



123 



So, making every sign that he was going to attack 
New York, in order that soldiers might not be sent from 
New York to CornwalHs, he marched at the head of the 
American and French armies toward the South. On the 
way, he visited his home at Mount Vernon for the first 
time in six years. 

Soon Cornwalhs and his army were shut up in York- 
town, as Washington had once been shut up by Cornwallis 




in Trenton. But Cornwallis was not allowed to 
escape, as Washington did. Troops were sent all 
around him like a net, to keep him from getting away, 
while the French ships in Chesapeake Bay kept him from 
getting any help by way of the sea. The fighting about 
Yorktown was very severe, and the most splendid cour- 
age was shown by both the American and the French 



124 THE VICTORY AT YORKTOWN. 

soldiers in charging the redoubts. The Enghsh fought 
with the greatest stubbornness on their side. 

During the assaults Washington stood where he could 
see the, bravery of the troops. One of his aides told him 
that it was a dangerous place for him to be in. 

" If you think so you are at liberty to step back," said 
Washington. 

Presently a musket ball struck a cannon near him and 
rolled at his feet. General Knox grasped Washington's 
arm, and said, " My dear general, we can not spare you 
yet." 

" It is a spent ball. No harm is done," answered Wash- 
ington. 

Finding he could no longer resist, Cornwallis surren- 
dered, and the war was virtually closed by the taking of 
Yorktown, The people of England had never liked this 
oppressive war, and the next year the English govern- 
ment felt obliged to acknowledge the independence of the 
United States. 

Washington did not seek to make himself a king or a 
ruler over the country he had set free. When his work was 
over he gladly gave up command of the army, and went 
back to become, as he said, " a private citizen on the banks 
of the Potomac." While all the world was praising him, 
he went to work again taking care of his lands and crops 
at Mount Vernon, with the intention of never leaving his 
home for public life again. 

But the people soon found that their government was 
not strong enough. Each State was almost a little country 



WASHINGTON AS PRESIDENT. 12$ 

by itself, and the nation Washington and others liad fought 
so hard to set free seemed about to fall into thirteen 
pieces. So a convention was called, to meet in Phila- 
delphia in 1787, five years after the close of the Revo- 
lution. This convention, of which Washington was the 
president, made a new Constitution, which should bind all 
the States together into one country, under the rule of a 
President and Congress. 

When the new Constitution had been adopted it be- 
came necessary to choose a President. Everybody wanted 
Washington to leave his fields and be the first President. 
He was elected by almost all the votes cast. 

At that time the capital of the country was New York. 
There were no railroads or telegraphs, so a messenger had 
to be sent from New York to Mount Vernon to tell Gen- 
eral Washington that he had been chosen the first Presi- 
dent of the United States. As the general traveled to 
New York the people turned out everywhere to do him 
honor. They rode b}' his carriage, and they welcomed 
him with public dinners in the towns. When he got to 
Trenton, out of which he had marched to escape from 
Cornwallis and fight the battle of Princeton, he found the 
bridge over which he had marched that night beautifully 
decorated. A triumphal arch had been erected by the 
women of Trenton, and, as the President passed beneath 
it, girls dressed in white sang a song of victory, and 
strewed flowers before him. 

When he reached Elizabethtown Point there was in 
waiting for him a handsome large barge. In this he was 



126 



WASHINGTON AS PRESIDENT. 






sS-,1 



^ 








/-/ 






MOUNT VERNON IN WASH NQTON'S TIME 






rowed by thirteen master pilots ''^„--' " "^A;'] 

dressed in white, and six other 

barges kept him company. The whole city of New York 

welcomed him with every possible honor. On the 30th of 

April, 1789, he took the oath of ofifiice, in the presence of 

a great throng of people. 

Washington was again elected President in 1792. He 
refused to be elected a third time, and, after publishing a 
farewell address to the country, he left the presidency in 
1797. He died at Mount Vernon in 1799. 

Aide [aid], an officer whose duty it is to convey the orders of a gen- 
eral. A spent ball, a ball that has almost stopped moving. Barge, 
used here in the sense of a large rowboat. Oath of office, a sworn 
pledge to perform the duties of an office. 



WASHINGTON AS PRESIDENT. 12/ 

Tell of — Coniwallis in Virginia. 

Washington's march to Yorktovvn. 

The battle at Yorktown. 

The end of the war. 

The making of the Constitution. 

Washington as President. 
What is said of the hardships of soldiers in the Revolution? 
What country helped the United States against England? 
How was Cornwallis shut up in Yorktown ? 
What anecdote of Washington in this battie is told ? 
What did Washington do when the war was over? 
Tell about the journey of Washington to New York. 
What does the frontispiece of this book show ? 
When and where did Washington die? 
What do you think of his character? 



XXII. 
Thomas Jefferson. 

Thomas Jefferson was the author of the Declaration 
of Independence. His father was a Virginia planter, and 
also a surveyor. The father was a man of strong frame, 
able to stand between two great hogsheads of tobacco 
lying on their sides and set both on end at once. He 
lived a hardy life, surveying in the woods. 

Thomas Jefferson was born in 1743. His father died 
when he was fourteen, and left him the owner of a large 
plantation. Like most Virginia boys, he was fond of hunt- 
ing, riding, and swimming. But he did not waste his life 
in sport. When he went to college at Williamsburg he 
became a famous student. Sometimes he studied fifteen 
hours a day, which would have been too much if he had 



!28 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



not been strong. No man in all America, perhaps, was 
his superior in knowledge. 

While he was a student, the colonies were thrown into 
violent excitement by the passage of the Stamp Act in 
England. This was a law for taxing the Americans, made 
without their consent. While this excitement was raging, 
young Jefferson went into the Virginia Legislature one 
day and heard the famous speech of Patrick Henry against 
the Stamp Act. 

In the midst of his speech Patrick Henry cried out, 
" Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I his Cromwell, and 
George HI — " At this point everybody thought Henry 
Avas going to threaten the death of George HI, who was 
King of England and of the colonies. This would have 
been treason. So, without waiting for Henry to finish, 
some of those who heard him broke into an uproar, cry- 
ing out, "Treason! treason!" 
But when they paused, Pat- 
^4.^ - I'ick Henry finished by 
saying, " George HI 
may profit by their ex- 
ample. If that be trea- 
son, make the most of 
it." This scene made 
a deep impression on 
young Jefferson. 
Jefferson's wealth was in- 
creased by his marriage. He built him a house which he 
called Monticello [mon-te-sel'-lo], meaning, " little moun- 







MONTICELLO. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 1 29 

tain," from its situation on a high hill. Jefferson was very 
fond of trying new things. He introduced foreign plants 
and trees, and he brought in new articles of furniture and 
new ways of building houses. 

While yet a young man he was sent to the Virginia 
Legislature, and then to Congress. He strongly favored 
the War of the Revolution. John Adams and others tried 
to persuade Congress to declare the colonies independent 
of England. At last a committee was appointed to write 
the Declaration. Jefferson was not a great speaker, but 
he was a brilliant writer. He wrote the Declaration of 
Independence, and it was signed by the members of Con- 
gress on the Fourth of July, 1776. 

In the Declaration Jefferson had declared that " all 
men are created equal." He now set about abolishing some 
of the laws which kept men from being equal in this coun- 
try. In his own State of Virginia much of the land was tied 
up so that it could only descend to the oldest son. This 
was called the law of entail. Jefferson got this law abol- 
ished, so that a father's land would be more equally divided 
among his children. 

There were also laws in most of the States which 
established some religious denomination as the religion of 
the State, and supported it by taxes. Jefferson got Vir- 
ginia to pass a law separating the State from the Cluirch, 
and making all men equal in regard to their religion. 

Jefferson was governor of Virginia during part of the 
Revolutionary War, and he had to make great exertions 
to defend the State from the British. The British troops 



no 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



at length inarched on Monticeho, and Jefferson had to flee 
from his house. 

Two of Jefferson's negro slaves, whose names were 
Martin and Caesar, made haste to hide their master's silver 

plate. They had raised a 
plank in the floor, and 
Caesar was crouched un- 
der the floor hiding the 
silverware as Martin 
handed it down to him. 
Just as the last piece 
went down, Martin saw 
the redcoats approach- 
ing. He dropped the 
plank, leaving Caesar a 
prisoner. In this uncom- 
fortable place the faithful 
fellow lay still for three days 
and nights without food. 
Jefferson was very loving and tender to his family. It 
was a great sorrow to him that four out of his six chil- 
dren died very young. His wife also died at the close of 
the Revolutionary War, 

Jefferson was sent to take Franklin's place as Ameri- 
can Minister to France. He was there five years, and 
then returned to America. He had always been kind to 
the negroes on his plantation. When he got back they 
were so rejoiced that they took him out of his carriage 
and carried him into the house, some of them crying and 




THE REDCOATS ARE COMING I ' 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. I3I 

others laughing with delight because " massa come home 
again." 

While Jefferson was gone, the Constitution of the United 
States had been adopted and General Washington had been 
elected President. He appointed JefTerson Secretary of 
State. Jefferson resigned this ofifice after some years, and 
went back to Monticello. 

In 1796 he was elected Vice President, and in 1800 he 
was chosen President of the United States. As President 
he introduced a more simple way of living and transacting 
business. He was much opposed to pomp and ceremony. 
It is said that when he was inaugurated he rode to the 
Capitol on horseback and hitched his horse to the fence. 
Another account has it that he walked there in company 
with a few gentlemen. At any rate, he would have no dis- 
play, but lived like a simple citizen. 

When Jefferson became President the United States 
extended only to the Mississippi River. President Jeffer- 
son bought from France a great region west of the Mis- 
sissippi, larger than all the United States had been before 
that time. This is known as the " Louisiana purchase," 
because all the country bought from France was then 
called Louisiana. It has been cut up into many States 
since its purchase. 

JefTerson was elected President a second time in 1804. 
In 1809 he retired to Monticello, where he lived the re- 
mainder of his life. 

He was once riding with his grandson when a negro 
bowed to them. JefTerson returned the bow, but the boy 



n,2 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 




did not. Jefferson turned to his grandson, and said, " Do 
you allow a poor negro to be more of a gentleman 

. , than you are ? ' ' 

While he was Presi- 
fjdi:%i^ dent, Jefferson was once 
^'^^'^^^y'fMf I'iding on horseback with 
"" some friends. An old 
man stood by a stream 
waiting to get across 
without wetting his feet. 
After most of the others 
had passed over, he asked 
Jefferson to take him on 
"■ behind and carry him 
across, which he did. When he 
had got down, a gentleman, com- 
ing up behind, asked him, " Why did you ask him, and 
not some other gentleman in the party?" 

"I did not like to ask them," said the old man; 
" but the old gentleman there looked like he would do 
it, and so I asked him." He was very much surprised 
to learn that it was the President who had carried him 
over. 

After Jefferson retired from the presidency so many 
people desired to see him that his plantation house was 
overrun with company, until he was made poor by enter- 
taining those who came. It is related that one woman even 
poked a pane of glass out with her parasol, in order to see 
the man who wrote the great Declaration. 



JEFFERSON AND THE NEGRO. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. I 33 

John Adams, the second President, and Jefferson, the 
third, Hved to be very old. They died on the same day. 
Curiously, that day was the 4th of July, 1826. If you sub- 
tract 1776 from 1826, you will find that they died exactly 
fifty years after the day on which the great Declaration 
was signed. And they were the two men who had the 
largest share in the making of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

Treason [tree'-z!n], the crime of attempting to overthrow the sov- 
ereign, or the government of one's country. Brilliant [bril'yant], 
shining, splendid. Secretary of State, the officer who superintends the 
business of the United States with other nations. In-au'-gu-ra-ted, 
put into office with proper ceremonies. 

Tell about — 

Jefferson's boyhood. 

Patrick Henry's speech. 

The Declaration of Independence. 

The law of entail. 

The separation of the State from the Church. 

Jefferson as Minister to France. 

Jefferson as President. 

The Louisiana purchase. 
What can you tell — 

Of Jefferson's home ? 

Of his negro slaves.-* 

Of his inauguration as President? 

Of his politeness to poor people ? 

Of the desire of people to see him .'' 

Of his death ? 

Date to be remembered— Tlie Fourth of July. 1 776. when the 
Declaration of Independence was signed. 

Note.— The addition of Louisiana to the United States is illustrated 
by a map in the last chapter of the book. 



134 



DANIEL BOONE. 




'.■C> 



zS-- 




THE BOY HUNTER. 



XXIII. 

Daniel Boone. 

Daniel Boone was born in Penn- 
sylvania in 1735. Boone 
:' >' '^'/,; was a hunter from the 
time he was old enough 
to hold a gun to 
his shoulder. 
He got just 
enough education to know 
how to read and write in a 
rough way. But in the woods he learned the lessons that 
made him the great pioneer 
and explorer. 

One day the boy did / T*" T*^ j'«'> 1 

not return from his 
hunting. The neigh 
bors searched sev- / fj^\i ^ 
eral days before 
they found him. 
He had built a 
little cabin of sod ^^^^^^ 
and boughs. Skins 
of animals were 
drying around the hut, *^' ^ -4- ,, 
and the young half-sav- f''^'//j 

age was toasting a piece of meat before the fire. This 
love for the wilderness was the ruling passion of his life. 




TRYING TO BE A SAVAGE. 



DANIEL BOONE. 1 35 

By the time Daniel was thirteen the part of Pennsylva- 
nia in which he lived had become settled. The Boones, 
like true backwoodsmen, moved to a wilder region on the 
Yadkin River, in North Carolina. While Daniel's father 
and brothers cleared a new farm, the boy hunter was left 
to supply the table with meat. 

One of Boone's modes of hunting was by " shining 
deer," as it was called in that country — that is, hunting 
deer at night with torches, and killing them by shooting 
at their glistening eyes. One night Boone, hunting in this 
fashion, saw a pair of eyes shining in the dark which he 
thought to be deer's eyes, but which proved to be those of 
a neighbor's daughter, whom Boone afterwards married. 

As the country was settling, he moved on to the head- 
waters of the river, where he and his young wife set up 
their log cabin in the lonesome wilderness. At this time 
the Alleghany Mountains formed a great wall, beyond 
which was a vast wilderness, with no inhabitants but In- 
dians and wild animals. (See map, page no.) Boone was 
too fond of wild life and too daring not to wish to take a 
peep over the mountains and get a sight of the land on 
the other side. Fifteen years before the Revolutionary 
War began, he pushed across the mountain wall and hunt- 
ed bears in what is now Tennessee. 

In 1769 he went into Kentucky with five others. Here 
he hunted the buffalo for the first time, and came near being 
run down by a herd of them. At length he and a man 
named Stewart were taken captive by the Indians. Boone 
pretended to be very cheerful. When he had been seven 



136 



DANIEL BOONE. 



days in captivity, the Indians, having eaten a hearty sup- 
per, all fell into a sound sleep. Boone sat up. One of 
the Indians moved. Boone lay down again. After a while 

he rose up 
once more. 
As the In- 
dians all lay 
still, he wak- 
ened Stew- 
art, and they 
took two 

guns and qui- 
etly slipped 
away, getting 
back in safe- 
ty to a cab- 
in they had 
built. But 
they never 

found any trace of the four men who had crossed the 
Alleghanies with them. 

One day, when Boone and Stewart were hunting, a lot 
of arrows were shot out of a canebrake near them, and 
Stewart fell dead. Boone's brother and another man had 
come from North Carolina to find Daniel. The other man 
walked out one day and was eaten up by wolves. There 
were now only the two Boones left of eight men in all who 
had crossed the mountains. 

By this time Boone ought to have had enough of the 




BOONE ESCAPES. 



DANIEL BOONE. I37 

wilderness. But the fearless Daniel sent his brother back 
to North Carolina for ammunition and horses, while he 
spent the winter in this almost boundless forest, with no 
neighbors but Indians, wolves, and other wild creatures. 
This was just what Daniel Boone liked, for he was him- 
self a wild man. 

Once the Indians chased him. Seeing them at, a dis- 
tance, following his tracks like dogs after a deer, he 
caught hold of one of those long, wild grapevines that 
dangle from the tall trees in Kentucky, and swung him- 
self away out in the air and then dropped down. When 
the Indians came to the place they could not follow his 
tracks, and Boone got away. 

He lived alone three months, till his brother returned. 
Then the Boones selected a spot on which to settle, and 
went back to North Carolina for their families and their 
friends. On their way out again, in 1773, the Indians at- 
tacked Boone's party and killed six men, among whom 
was Boone's eldest son. The women of the party now 
went to the nearest settlement, but Boone made sev- 
eral journeys to and fro. In 1775, just as the Revolu- 
tionary War broke out, he built a fort in Kentucky, and 
called it Boonesborough. Even while building the fort 
Boone and his friends were attacked by Indians. When 
the fort was completed, Boone's wife and daughters came 
to Boonesborough, and they were the first white women 
in Kentucky. 

A daughter of Boone's and two other girls were cap- 
tured by the Indians while picking flowers outside of the 



138 



DANIEL BOONE. 



fort. These cunning backwoods girls managed to drop 

shreds torn from their clothes, and to break a bough now 

and then, so as to guide their fathers in 

following them. The party was 

overtaken by Boone and others, 

and the girls were rescued. 

To tell of all the battles 

around Boonesborough, or of 

all of Daniel Boone's fights and 

escapes, would take a great 

part of this book. Once, when 




A BACKWOODS GIRL. 



hunting, he encountered two 
Indians. He " treed, ' ' as they 
called it — that is, he got be- 
hind one of the large trees 
of the forest. The Indians 
did the same. Boone partly 
exposed himself, and one of 
the Indians fired, but Boone, 
who was very quick, dodged at 
the flash of the Indian's gun. He played the same trick 
on the other. Then he shot one of the Indians, and had 
a hand-to-hand fight with the other. The Indian struck 
at him with his tomahawk, but Boone protected himself 
with his gun barrel, and killed the Indian with a knife 
such as hunters of that time carried in their belts. 

One day Boone was attacked by a hundred savages. 
He tried the speed of his legs, but one young Indian 
was swifter than he, and he was captured. The Indians 



I 



DANIEL BOONE. 



139 



thought him a great prize. They shaved his head, leav- 
ing a single lock, painted his face, and dressed him up 
like an Indian. Then they gave him to an old woman 
who had lost her son. She had her choice to adopt him 
or give him up to be burned alive. After looking at him 
a long time the squaw made up 
her mind to adopt him. 

The Indians among whom Boone 
was a prisoner were fighting on the 
English side in the Revolution. 
The English ofificers who were then 
at Detroit bought all their captives 
from the Indians, except Boone, and 
they offered five hundred dollars for 
Captain Boone. But the Indians 
would not sell so great a warrior. 
The English officers were sorry for 
him, and out of real kindness, when 
they could not buy him, they offered 
him money. Boone refused to re- 
ceive any favors from those who 
were fighting against his country. 

He pretended to like the Indian way of living. He 
stayed a long time with them, and took part in all their 
sports. He seemed to have forgotten his own people. 
But when he found that they were preparing to attack 
Boonesborough, he got ready to escape. Pretending to 
chase a deer, while holding a piece of his breakfast in his 
hand, he succeeded in getting away. By running in streams 




DANIEL BOONE. 



140 DANIEL BOONE. 

of water he kept the Indians from following his tracks. 
He lived on roots and berries, and only once ventured to 
discharge his gun to get food. 

When he got back to Boonesborough he found that 
his family had given him up for dead and gone back to 
North Carolina. He repaired the fort, and beat off five 
hundred Indians who attacked it. 

Boone brought his family to Kentucky again, and was 
in many severe fights after this. Kentucky had no rest 
from bloodshed until Wayne defeated the Indians in Ohio, 
in 1794. (See page 146.) When Kentucky had filled up 
with people, the old pioneer went off to Missouri so as to 
get " elbowroom." The amusements of his old age were 
lying in wait for deer, shooting wild turkeys, and hunting 
for bee trees. He was eighty-five years old when he died. 

Pi-o-neer', an early settier in a new country. Wil'-der-ness, a 
wild country ; a country without inhabitants. Dangle [dang'-g'l], to hang 
down. Cab'-in, a small house. Cane'-brake, a thicket of growing 
canes (such as are used for fishing rods). Ammunition [am-mu-nish'- 
un], things used in loading a gun, as powder, bullets, caps, and so on. 
Fort, a place built to keep out enemies in war. Shreds, little strips 
or threads torn off. Res '-cued, saved from danger ; recovered. Tom'- 
a-ha>A^k, an Indian's hatchet. A-dopt', to take for one's own child. 
Squaw, an Indian woman. Bee tree, a tree in which a swarm of wild 
bees have stored honey. 

Tell about — 

Daniel Boone as a boy. His first journeys over the mountains. 
His encounters with the Indians. The escape of three Ken- 
tucky girls. His long captivity and escape. His old age and 
death. 

To be remembered : 

The State first settled by Daniel Boone — Kentucky. • 



ROBERT FULTON AND THE STEAMBOAT. I4I 

XXIV. 
Robert Fulton and the Steamboat. 

More than a hundred years ago a sickly Scotch boy 
named James Watt used to sit and watch the lid of his 
mother's teakettle as it rose and fell while the water was 
boiling, and wonder about the power of steam, which 
caused this rattling motion. In his day there were no 
steamboats, or steam mills, or railways. There was noth- 
ing but a clumsy steam engine, that could work slowly an 
up-and-down pump to take water out of mines. This had 
been invented sixty years before. Watt became a maker 
of mathematical instruments. He was once called to re- 
pair one of these wheezy, old-fashioned pumping engines. 
He went to work to improve it, and he became the real 
inventor of the first steam engine that was good for all 
sorts of work that the world wants done. 

When once steam was put to work, men said, " Why 
not make it run a boat ?" One English inventor tried to 
run his boat by making the engine push through the water 
a thing somewhat like a duck's foot. An American named 
Rumsey moved his boat by forcing a stream of water 
through it, drawing it in at the bow and pushing it out 
at the stern. But this pump boat failed. 

Then came John Fitch. He was an ingenious, poor 
fellow, who had knocked about in the world making but- 
tons out of old brass kettles, and mending guns. He had 
been a soldier in the Revolution and a captive among the 
Indians. At length he made a steamboat. He did not 



142 



ROBERT FULTON AND THE STEAMBOAT. 




FITCH'S STEAMBOAT. 



imitate the duck's foot or the steam pump, but, hke most 
other inventors, he borrowed from what had been used. 

He made his engine drive 
a number of oars, so 
as to paddle the boat 
forward. His boat was 
tried on the Delaware 
River in 1787. The 
engine was feeble, and 
the boat ran but slow- 
ly. Fitch grew extremely poor and ragged, but he used 
to say that, when " Johnny Fitch " should be forgotten, 
steamboats would run up the rivers and across the sea. 
This made the people laugh, for they thought him wJiat 
we call " a crank." 

Robert Fulton was born in Pennsylvania in 1765. He 
was the son of an Irish tailor. He was not fond of books, 
but he was ingenious. He made pencils for his own use 
out of lead, and he made rockets for his own Fourth of 
July celebration. _^ 

With some other boys he ^ _ , "J^^" ^ "" 

used to go fishini "" - f^'"' 

in an old flat- 
boat. But he got 
tired of pushing 
the thing along 
with poles, so he 
contrived some pad- 
dle wheels to turn with 



j^j?^ ' 



' .iimt"' 




f ULTON S FIHbT INVENTION 



ROBERT FULTON AND THE STEAMBOAT. I43 

cranks, something like those in the picture. He was four- 
teen years old when he made this invention. 

At seventeen he became a miniature painter in Phila- 
delphia, and by the time he was twenty-one he had earned 
money enough to buy a little farm for his mother. He 
then went to Europe to study art. 

But his mind turned to mechanical inventions, of which 
he now made several. Among other things, he contrived 
a little boat to run under water and blow up war vessels; 
but, though he could supply this boat with air, he could 
not get it to run swiftly. 

He now formed a partnership with Chancellor Living- 
ston, the American Minister to France, who was very much 
interested in steamboats. Fulton had two plans. One was 
to use paddles in a new way; the other was to use the 
paddle wheel, such as he had made when he was a boy. 
He found the wheels better than paddles. 

He built his first steamboat on the River Seine, near 
Paris, but the boat broke in two from the weight of her 
machinery. His next boat made a trial trip in sight of a 
great crowd of Parisians. She ran slowly, but Fulton felt 
sure that he knew just what was needed to make the next 
one run faster. 

Fulton and Livingston both returned to America. Ful- 
ton ordered from James Watt a new engine, to be made 
according to his own plans. In August, 1807, Fulton's 
new boat, the Clermont, was finished at New York. Peo- 
ple felt no more confidence in it than we do now in a 
flying machine. They called it " Fulton's Folly." How- 



144 



ROBERT FULTON AND THE STEAMBOAT. 




FULTON'S FlRSr STEAMBOAT. 



ever, a great many people gathered to see the trial trip 
and laugh at F"ulton and his failure. The crowd was 
struck with wonder at seeing the black smoke rushing 
from the pipes, and the revolving paddle wheels, which 
were uncovered, as you see in the picture, throwing spray 

into the air, while the boat 
moved without spreading 
her sails. At last a 
steamboat had been 
made that would run 
at a fair rate of speed. 

The Clermont began 
to make regular trips 
from New York to Al- 
bany. When the men 
on the river sloops first saw this creature of fire and 
smoke coming near them in the night, and heard the pufi 
of her steam, the clank of her machinery, and the splash 
of her wheels, they were frightened. Some of the sailors 
ran below to escape the monster, some fell on their knees 
and prayed, while others hurried ashore. 

While Fulton was inventing and building steamboats, 
people became very much interested in machinery. A man 
named RedhefTer pretended to have invented a perpetual- 
motion machine, which, once started, would go of itself. 
People paid a dollar apiece to see the wonder, and learned 
men who saw it could not account for its motion. Fulton 
was aware that it must be a humbug, because he knew 
that there could be no such thing as a machine that 



ROBERT FULTON AND THE STEAMBOAT. I45 

would run of itself. But his friends coaxed him to go to 
see it. When Fulton had listened to it awhile he found 
that it ran in an irregular way, faster and then slower, 
and then faster and slower again. 

" This is a crank motion," he said. " If you people will 
help me, I'll show you the cheat." 

The crowd agreed to help. Fulton knocked down some 
little strips of wood, and found a string running through 
one of them from the machine to the wall ; he followed 
this through the upper floor until he came to a back gar- 
ret. In this sat a wretched old man, who wore an im- 
mense beard, and appeared to have been long imprisoned. 
He was gnawing a crust of bread, and turning a crank 
which was connected with the machinery by the string. 
When the crowd got back to the machine room Redheffer 
had run away. 

Fulton died in 181 5. Before his death many steamboats 
were in use. Some years after his death steam was applied 
to railways, and a little later steamers were built to cross 
the ocean. 

In-vent'-or, one who invents or contrives something not before 
known. In-gen'-ious, inventive; good at contriving new ways of 
doing things. Be-low' , on a vessel, this word means downstairs. 

Tell in your own words about — 

James Watt and the steam engine. 
Early attempts to build steamboats. 
Fulton's early life. 

How Fulton invented the steamboat. 
The first steamboat on the Hudson. 
Fulton and the perpetual motion. 



146 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 

XXV. 
William Henry Harrison. 

One of the members of Congress who signed the Dec- 
laration of Independence in 1776 was Benjamin Harrison, 
a stout and jolly man. When Congress chose John Han- 
cock for its President, or chairman, Hancock made a mod- 
est speech, as though he would decline the place. But 
Benjamin Harrison just took him up in his arms and set 
him down in the chair. 

The third son of this Benjamin Harrison was William 
Henry Harrison. He was born in Virginia in 1773. His 
father died when he was young. Young Harrison began 
the study of medicine, but there was a war with the In- 
dians in the West, and he wanted to go to the war. His 
guardian wished him t© stick to his study of medicine ; 
but there was more soldier than doctor in Harrison, and 
President Washington, who had been his father's friend, 
made the young man an officer in the army when he was 
but nineteen years old. 

When Harrison got to the western country the army, 
under the lead of General St. Clair, had been surprised by 
the Indians and defeated. Washington appointed General 
Wayne to take St. Clair's place, and Wayne gave Harrison 
a place on his staff. Wayne trained his men carefully, and 
practiced them in shooting, and when he marched it was 
with every care not to be surprised. The Indians called 
Wayne " the Chief who never Sleeps." He fought a battle 
with the Indians on the Maumee River, in Ohio, and he 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. I47 

pushed them so hotly with bayonets and guns fired at short 
range that the Indians fled in every direction. They were 
so thoroughly beaten that they made peace with the white 
people, and the Western settlers had rest from war for a 
while. 

In 1 801 a new Territory, called Indiana, was formed. 
It took in all the country which now lies in Indiana, Illi- 
nois, and Wisconsin, and it had but few white people in it. 
Harrison was made governor of this large region. 

There was a young Shawnee warrior, Tecumseh [te- 
cum'-seh], who had fought against Wayne in 1794. He 
was much opposed to the Indians' selling their lands. 
He declared that no tribe had a right to sell land 
without the consent of the other tribes. There were at 
that time seventeen States, and the Indians called the 
United States the " Seventeen Fires." Tecumseh got the 
notion of forming all the Indian tribes into a confeder- 
acy like the " Seventeen Fires," or States, of the white 
men. 

Tecumseh was not born a chief, but he had gathered 
a great band of followers, and had thus become a pow- 
erful leader. He made long journeys to the North and 
West, and then traveled away to the South to bring the 
Indians into his plan for a great war that should drive 
the white people back across the Alleghany Mountains. 
In one council at the South the Indians refused to join 
him. Tecumseh told them that, when he got to De- 
troit, he would stamp on the ground and make the 
houses in their village fall down. It happened soon after 



148 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRLSON. 



that an earthquake did destroy some of their houses, and 
the frightened Indians said, " Tecumseh has arrived at De- 
troit." They immediately got ready to help him against 
the white people. 

Tecumseh had a brother who pretended to be a prophet, 
and who was called "The Open Door." He gathered 
many Indians about him at Tippecanoe, in Indiana, and he 
preached a war against the white people. 

Governor Harrison held a council with Tecumseh at 
Vincennes. Seats were placed for the chief on the piazza 
of the governor's house, but Tecumseh insisted on holding 

the council in a 
grove. He said 
that the white 
people might 
bring out some 
chairs for them- 
selves, but that 
the earth was the 
Indians' mother, 
and they would 
rest on her 
bosom. 

In the discus- 
sions Tecumseh 
grew very angry, and his warriors seized their tomahawks 
and sprang to their feet. Harrison drew his sword, a 
white man near him showed a dirk, and a friendly Indian 
cocked his pistol to defend the governor, while a Method- 




HARRISON S COUNCIL 

WITH TECUMSEH, 

AT VINCENNES. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. I49 

ist minister ran with a gun to protect Harrison's family. 
Others present armed themselves with clubs and brick- 
bats. The soldiers now came running up to fire on the 
Indians; but Harrison stopped them, and told Tecumseh 
that he was a bad man, and that he could now go. 

Tecumseh cooled down and had another talk with the 
governor the next day, and Harrison even went to the 
chief's tent with only one companion. 

But General Harrison soon saw that, in spite of all he 
could do, war would come. Tecumseh went South to stir 
up the Southern tribes. He gave these far-away Indians 
bundles of sticks painted red. He told them 
to throw away one stick every day, and, 
when all were gone, they were to fall 
upon the white people. 

But General Harrison thought, if 
there had to be war, he would rather ^^*Si^ ^ 

TECUMSEH'S ALMANAC. 

fix the time for it himself; so, while 
Tecumseh was leaving his almanac of red sticks in the 
South, the general marched from Vincennes [vin-senz'J, up 
the Wabash [waw'-bash] to Tippecanoe [tip'-pe-ka-noo'J, 
which was Tecumseh's home. Knowing that the Indians 
would try to surprise him, he fooled them into believing 
that he was going up on one side of the river, and then 
crossed to the other. He got nearly to Tippecanoe in 
safety, but the prophet sent messengers to him, pretending 
that the Indians would make peace the next day. 

Harrison's men lay on their arms that night. About 
four o'clock on the morning of November 7, 1811, the 




ISO 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



general was pulling on his boots, intending to awaken the 
army, when a sentinel fired at a skulking Indian, and the 
war whoop sounded from the tall grass on every side. 
The white men put out their camp 
fires, so that the Indians could 
not see to shoot at them, and 
the fierce battle raged 
in the darkness. The 
signals to charge and 
to fall back were given 
ifl to the Indians 

~^;:^^--^ by the rattle 
of deers' hoofs. 
The prophet sung 
a wild war song on 
a neighboring hill, 
after promising his fol- 
i^.-, lowers that bullets 
should not hurt them. 
But many an Indian and 
many a white man fell in that bloody struggle. When 
daylight came, Harrison's men made a charge which drove 
away the savages. 

Harrison burned the village of Tippecanoe, and Tecum- 
seh came back to find his plan for driving the white men 
over the mountains spoiled. But the war with England 
broke out soon after this, and Tecumseh entered the Brit- 
ish army, and was made a brigadier general. 

General Harrison was now once more opposed to Te- 




WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 151 

cumseh, for he was put in command of the United States 
army in the West. In 181 3 he was besieged in Fort Meigs 
[megs] by an EngHsh army under General Proctor and a 
body of Indians under Tecum seh. 

While the English were building their batteries to fire 
into the fort, the Americans were very busy also, but they 
kept a row of tents standing to hide what they were doing. 
When the English guns were ready, the Americans took 
down their tents and showed a great earthwork that would 
shelter them from the batteries. This made Tecumseh 
angry. He said that General Harrison was like a ground 
hog — he stayed in his hole, and would not come out and 
fight like a man. 

Proctor, though belonging to a civilized nation, was a 
heartless brute. Tecumseh was born a savage, but he was 
always opposed to cruelty. Some of Harrison's men had 
been captured, and Proctor allowed the Indians to put 
them to death. When Tecumseh saw what was going on, 
he rushed in between the Indians and their prisoners with 
his tomahawk in hand, and stopped the slaughter. 

"Why did you allow this?" he demanded of General 
Proctor. 

" I could not control the Indians," said Proctor. 

" Go home and put on petticoats," said Tecumseh. 

The English fleet on Lake Erie was beaten in a fight 
with the American ships under Commodore Perry in the 
fall of 1813. Harrison now crossed into Canada, and the 
British army retreated to the river Thames [temz], where 
Harrison overtook it, and a battle followed. Proctor was 



152 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



r 'BATTut OF 
'■ fMETHAMF-S . *■.,„■ 




afraid to fall 
into the hands 
of the Amer- 
icans, who 
hated him for 
his cruelties to 
prisoners and 
the wounded. 
He ran away 
before the bat- 
tle was over. 
Brave Tecum- 
seh was killed 
''" ' in this fight. 
Harrison left the army soon after this. In 1840 he was 

living in a simple way on his farm at North Bend, in Ohio, 

when he was nominated for President of the United States. 

He was elected, but he died on the 4th of April, 1841, one 

month after taking of^ce. 

Guardian [gard'-i-an], one appointed to care for the interests of a 
person who is under age. Con-fed'-er-a-cy, persons, states, or tribes, 
who agree to act together. Proph'-et, one who speaks by command 
of God. Skulk'-ing, sneaking; moving so as to avoid being seen. 
Sen'-ti-nel, a soldier set to watch. Brig-a-dier' gen'-er-al, an 
officer of a lower rank than major general ; one who properly commands a 
brigade of several regiments. Besieged [be-seejd'], shut up in a place 
by an enemy. Nom'-i-na-ted, put forward as a candidate. 

Tell in your own words what it was that made Harrison famous. 
Tell how he came to destroy the Indian town at Tippecanoe. 
Tell about the siege of Fort Meigs. 
Tell about the battle of the Thames. 



ANDREW TACKSON. 



j=; 



XXVI, 



Andrew Jackson. 

General Andrew Jackson's father was also named 
Andrew Jackson. He was an Irishman, who came to the 
Waxhaw settlement, on the line between North and South 
Carolina, about ten years before the Revolution. He had 
built a log cabin, cleared a little land, and raised a crop of 
corn, when he sickened and died. In this sad time his son, 
Andrew Jackson, was born. Andrew's mother lived with 
her relatives, and spun flax to earn a little money. 

From a little fellow "Andy" was a hot-tempered boy. 
Some larger boys once loaded a gun very heavily, and 
gave it to Andy to fire, in order to see him knocked over 
by the "kick" of the gun. But the fierce little fellow 
had no sooner tumbled over, than he got up and vowed 
that he would kill the first one that laughed, and not one 
of the boys dared to provoke him. -^^ \ .__ 

He grew up in a wild country and 
among rough people. What little (rhrjo^^^-^,^^ 
schooling he got was at an old-field 
schoolhouse. 

When he was but thirteen the 
Revolutionary War began. In the 
South the struggle was very bitter, 
neighbor battling against neighbor 
with any weapons that could be % 
found. Of course, a fiery fellow like 
Andrew wanted to have a hand in 




ANDREW JACKSON 
MAKEb HIS OWN WEAPONS. 



154 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



the fight against England. Whenever he went to a black- 
smith's shop he hammered out some new weapon. Young 
as he was, he was in two or three skirmishes. In one of 
these, Andrew and his brother were taken prisoners. A 

British officer ordered Andrew 
to clean the mud off his boots. 
Young Jackson refused, and got a 
sword cut on his head for it. His 
brother was treated in the same 
way. The two wounded boys 
were then confined in a for- 
lorn prison pen, where they 
took the smallpox. Their 
mother managed to get them 
exchanged, and brought the 
sick boys home. 

When Andrew Jackson 
. was eighteen years old he 
went to the village of 
Salisbury to study law. At 
this time many settlers were 
crossing the mountains into the 
rich lands to the westward, and 
young Jackson moved to the newly settled country of 
Tennessee. Here, in the fierce disputes of a new coun- 
try, it took a great deal of courage to practice law. 

Jackson was not only brave; he was also a quick-tem- 
pered man, who got into many quarrels during his life, and 
sometimes fought duels. The rough people among whom 




ANDREW JACKSON. I55 

he lived were afraid of him. One day he was eating at a 
long table which the keeper of the tavern had set out of 
doors for the crowd that had come to see a horse race. 
A fight was going on at the other end of the table ; but 
fights were so common in this new country that Jackson 
did not stop eating to find out what it was about. Pres- 
ently he heard that a friend of his, one Patten Anderson, 
was likely to be killed. Jackson could not easily get to 
his friend for the crowd, but he jumped up on the table 
and ran along on it, putting his hand into his pocket as 
though to draw a pistol. He cried out at the same time, 
I'm coming, Patten!" and he opened and shut the to- 
bacco box in his pocket with a sound like the cocking of 
a pistol. The crowd was so afraid of him that they scat- 
tered at once, crying, " Don't fire! " 

Jackson was an able man, and an honest one in his way. 
He was once a judge, he kept a store, he went to Con- 
gress, and then to the United States Senate. When the 
" War of 1812 " with England broke out he was sent as a 
general of Tennessee volunteers to defend New Orleans. 
When he had waited some time at Natchez he was or- 
dered to disband his troops, as they were not needed. 
Those who sent such an order from Washington did not 
stop to ask how the poor Tennesseeans were to make their 
way back to their homes. Jackson refused to obey the 
order, pledged his own property to get food for his men, 
and marched them to Tennessee again. The men became 
devoted to him, and gave him the nickname of " Old 
Hickory." 



156 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



But after a while war broke out in the Southwest in 
earnest. Tecumseh, in his Southern trip, had persuaded a 
half-breed chief, who was known to the whites as Weath- 

ersford and to the Indians as Red 
Eagle, to " take up the hatchet " 
and go to war. The Indians at- 
tacked Fort Mimms, in which four 
hundred men, women, and children 
were shut up. They burned the 
fort and killed the people in it. 
Weathersford tried to stop the 
massacre, but he could not con- 
trol his savages. 

When the news of this slaugh- 
ter reached Tennessee Jackson 
was very ill from a wound in the 
arm and a ball in the shoulder which he got in a foolish 
fight. But in spite of his wounds, the fiery general marched 
at the head of twenty-five hundred men to attack the 
savages. He had a great deal of trouble to feed his troops 
in the wilderness; the men suffered from hunger, and some- 
times rebelled and resolved to go home. Jackson once 
ordered out half his army to keep the other half from leav- 
ing. Again, the half that had tried to desert was used to 
make the others stay. At another time he stood in the road 
in front of his rebellious soldiers, and declared in the most 
dreadful words that he would shoot the first villain who 
took a step. 

In spite of all these troubles with his wild soldiers, Jrxck- 




CHIEF IN FULL OREb 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



I^ 



5/ 



son beat the enemy by rapid marches and bold attacks. 
In 1 8 14 the savages had fortified themselves at a place 
called Horseshoe Bend. Here Jackson had 
a terrible battle 
with the Indians, 
who fought until 
they were almost 
all dead. At length 
most of the sav- 
ages submitted, or 
fled into Florida, 
which at that time 
belonged to Spain. 
The white men 
had vowed to kill 
Weathersford, the 
chief ; but that 
fearless fellow rode 
up to Jackson's 
tent, and said that 
he wanted the 
general to send " 
for the Indian 
women and children, who were starving in the woods. 
When the white soldiers saw Weathersford, they cried 
out, " Kill him!" But Jackson told them that anybody 
who would kill so brave a man would rob the dead. 

Jackson was suffering all this time from a painful illness, 
and was hardly able to sit in the saddle. But he marched 




WEATHERSFORD 
SURRENDERS TO GENERAL JACKSON. 



158 



ANDREW JACKSON. 




to Mobile, which he suc- 
ceeded in defending against 
an English force that had 
landed in Florida, and had 
been joined by Florida 
Indians. Jackson resolved 
that the Spaniards should 
not give any further aid to the enemies of the United 
States. He therefore marched his army into Florida and 
took the Spanish town of Pensacola, driving the English 
away. 

It soon became necessary for him to go to New Or- 
leans to defend that place. The English landed twelve 
thousand fine men below that city. Jackson armed the free 
negroes and the prisoners out of the jails, but, after all, he 
had only half as many soldiers as the English. The general, 



ANDREW JACKSON. 



159 



though yellow with illness, was as resolute as ever. He had 
several fights with the English as they advanced, but the 
decisive battle was fought on the 8th of January, 181 5, when 
the English tried to carry the American works by storm. 
Jackson's Southwestern troops were many 
of them dead shots. They mowed down 
the ranks of the British whenever they 
charged, until more than one fifth 
the English troops had been killed 
or wounded and their general 
was also dead. Though the 
English had lost twenty-six 
hundred brave men, the Amer- 
icans had but eight killed and 
thirteen wounded. 

One little English bugler, 
fourteen years old, had climbed 
into a tree near the American 
works and blown his bugle 
charge, to cheer the English, 
till there were none left to 
blow for. An American soldier 
then brought him into camp, 
where the men made much of their 
young prisoner, because he was so brave. " ". 

This wonderful defense of New Orleans ended the 
" War of 1812." General Jackson became the darling of 
his country. When the United States bought Florida from 
Spain, he was sent to take possession of that country. 




l6o ANDREW JACKSON. 

In 1828 Jackson was elected President of the United 
States. He was a man of the plain people, rough in speech 
and stern in manner, but his popularity was very great. 
He was the first President who put out of office those who 
had voted against him, and appointed his own friends to 
their places. He enforced the laws with a strong hand, 
and he managed affairs with other nations in such a way 
as to make the country respected in Europe. 

General Jackson died in 1845. He was, as we have 
seen, a man of strong will and fierce passions. But he was 
faithful to his friends, affectionate with his relatives, and 
exceedingly kind to his slaves. He had no children, but 
he adopted a nephew of his wife and brought him up as 
his son. He also adopted an Indian baby, found after one 
of his battles in its dead mother's arms. His splendid de- 
fense of New Orleans showed Jackson to be one of the 
very ablest generals America has ever produced. 

Weapon [wep'-un], something to fight with. Skir'-mish, a small 
battle. Du'-el, a fight between two men with weapons. To dra^w a 
pistol, is to take it from the pocket or belt to fire. Vol-un-teers', 
men not regular soldiers who enlist in an army during a war. Dis-band', 
to dismiss a company of soldiers. "Old Hickory" ; this name was 
given to Jackson, who shared all the hardships of his men, because the 
hickory tree is rough outside, and has a very tough wood. Half-breed, 
a person one of whose parents is of the white race, and the other Indian. 
"Take up the hatchet," an Indian phrase meaning to go to war. 
Massacre [mas'-sa-ker], the putting to death of people who have no means 
of defending themselves. Spaniards [span'-yerds], the people of Spain. 
Resolute [rez'-o-lute], determined. Decisive [de-si'-sivj, that which 
decides or settles a matter. Dead shot, one whose aim in shooting is 
perfect. Bugle charge, notes played on a bugle as a signal for soldiers 
to charge. Popularity [pop-yu-lar'-i-ty], favor with the people. 



ANDREW JACKSON. lOI 

Tell in your own words about the boyhood of General Jackson. 
What part did he take in the Revolution ? 

Tell about his war against the Indians under Red Eagle, or Weathers- 
ford. 
Which do you think was Jackson's most famous battle ? 
Tell about the defense of New Orleans. 
What kind of a President was Jackson? 
What kind of a man was he ? 
What kind of a general ? 



XXVII. 
Morse and the Telegraph. 

Before the railroad and the telegraph were invented 
it took weeks for news to go from one part of this country 
to another. The mails were carried by a lad on horseback^ 
or by a stagecoach drawn by horses. The railroad was 
invented in England and introduced into this country about 
1830. The locomotive carried news much more quickly 
than horses' feet could travel. But now we know to-day 
what happened yesterday on the other side of the world, 
and we wonder how people ever got on without the 
electric telegraph. 

Samuel Finley Breeze Morse, who invented the electric 
telegraph, or that form of it that came into general use. 
was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1791. When 
he was four years old he was sent to school to an old 
lady, who was lame and not able to leave her chair. She 
managed her scholars with a very long rattan stick. This 
was her telegraph, we might say, but the children did not 
always like the messages she sent upon it. Morse showed 



1 62 MORSE AND THE TELEGRAPH. 

his talent as an artist by scratcliing a picture of the old 
lady on a piece of furniture, but he did not like the mes- 
sage she sent him on her rattan telegraph. 

When Samuel Morse went to Yale College he took 
great interest in the experiments in electricity which he 
saw there. But the chief question with him at this time 
was how to get a living. He had a talent for making 
pictures, and he took to painting miniatures of people for 
five dollars apiece; he also made profiles at a dollar apiece. 
As there were no photographs then, people who wanted 
small pictures of themselves had to have them painted. 
This was usually done on ivory. 

We have seen that Fulton, the maker of steamboats, was 
a painter. Morse became a painter, and went to England 
to study, where he attracted attention by his good work. 
After four years in Europe he came to America again, as 
poor as ever. His clothes were threadbare, and his shoe?> 
were ragged at the toes. " My stockings," he said, " want 
to see my mother." He brought with him a large picture, 
which everybody admired, but nobody bought it. 

He was already thinking about inventions. He and his 
brother invented a pump, which his brother jokingly named 
" Morse's Patent Metallic, Double-headed, Ocean-drinker 
and Deluge-spouter Valve Pump Box." But the pump, for 
all this, was not a success, and Morse traveled from town 
to town painting portraits for a living. 

Morse went to Europe again, and in 1832 he sailed for 
America once more. He was now about forty-one years 
old. One evening, in the cabin of the ship, the talk turned 



MORSE AND THE TELEGRAPH. 163 

on electricity. A Dr. Jackson, who was one of the pas- 
sengers, told of an interesting experiment which he had 
seen in Paris. Electricity had been sent instantaneously 
through a great length of wire arranged in circles around 
a large room. 

" Then," said Morse, " I don't see why messages can 
not be sent a long distance instantaneously by means of 
electricity." 

When the conversation was over the rest forgot all 
about it. But Morse began to plan a telegraph, making 
drawings of the machine in his sketch-book. But he was 
much too poor to go on with his invention. His brothers 
gave him the use of a room for a studio, and here he lived, 
and made experiments on a rude telegraph. He did his 
own cooking, and he used to go out at night to buy food, 
for fear that his friends should discover how little he had 
to eat. 

In 1835 Morse became a professor. He now took a 
Professor Gale into partnership in the telegraph. But 
neither of them had money enough to perfect the inven- 
tion. While they were one day exhibiting their rude ma- 
chine to some gentlemen, a student named Alfred Vail 
happened to come into the room. Young Vail was the son 
of Judge Vail, a wealthy mill owner. He had worked for 
some years in. his father's shops, and was a far better 
mechanic than Professor Morse or Professor Gale. 

Vail's quick eye soon comprehended the new invention, 
which was being tested with seventeen hundred feet of 
wire stretched back and forth across the room. 



164 MORSE AND THE TELEGRAPH. 

" Do you intend to try the telegraph on a large scale ?" 
Vail asked. 

" 1 do, if I can get the money to carry out my plans," 
Professor Morse replied. 

Vail then proposed to get money for Morse if the pro- 
fessor would make him a partner. This was agreed to, and 
the young man hurried to his room, locked the door, threw 
himself on his bed, and gave himself up to imagining the 
future of the telegraph. He took up his atlas and traced 
out the great lines which the telegraph would take. It is 
probable that Professor Morse would have failed if it had 
not been for the help of this young man. 

After getting some further explanations from Morse, 
Alfred Vail hurried home and talked to his father about 
it, until the judge decided to furnish the two thousand 
dollars that would be needed to make a perfect telegraph. 
This was to be taken to Congress, to persuade that body 
to supply money to build the first line. 

Besides furnishing money for the machine, the Vails got 
Morse to paint some portraits for them, and thus supplied 
him with money to meet his most pressing wants. Alfred 
now had a room fitted up in one of his father's workshops 
at Speedwell, in New Jersey. He kept the place carefully 
locked, lest the secret of the invention should be discov- 
ered by others. 

A boy named William Baxter, fifteen years old, was 
taken from the shop to help Alfred Vail. For many months 
Alfred and Baxter worked together, sometimes day and 
night. There was no such thing as telegraph wire in a 



MORSE AND THE TELEGRAPH. 



165 



day when there were no telegraphs. But the ladies of 
that time wore a kind of high bonnet, which was called a 
" sky-scraper," and a sort of wire was used to strengthen 
and stiffen the fronts of such bonnets, which 
proved to be the best to be had for the pur- 
pose of the new telegraph makers. Vail bought \\ 
all the bonnet wire in the market. 

Vail made manv improvements in dM^l 
Morse's machine. He also made the instru- 
ment Avrite, not with the zigzag marks used 
by Professor Morse, but in dots and dashes 
for letters, as you will see in the alphabet 
given on this page. Morse was busy get- 
ting his patent, and Professor Gale was ^'^^a"J>^W^ 
engaged in making the batteries. A-sKY-s^i^R. 






^, 









A - — 


G 


L 


R 


w 


B 


II 


M 


S --- 


X 


C 


I -- 


N — - 


T — 


V 


D 


K 


- - 


u 


Z 


!•: - 


P 


V 


& 



TELEGRAPHIC ALPHABET. 



Rat-tan', the long slender shoots of the East Indian cane. Min'-i- 
a-ture, a small picture ; usually a small portrait on ivory. Profile 
[pro'-file], a side-view of a face. In-stan-ta'-ne-ous-ly, immediately; 
at once. Sketch'-book, a book in which an artist makes hurried draw- 
ings. Com-pre-hend'-ed, took in; understood. Pat'-ent, a paper 
from a government giving an inventor the right to prevent other people 
from using his invention. Bat'-ter-y, that part of the telegraph which 
produces the electricity. 



l66 MORSE AND THE TELEGRAPH. 

Tell in your own words — 

About Morse's early life. 

How he came to think of inventing a telegraph. 
Tell something of his struggles with poverty. 
How did Vail come to take an interest in the invention? 
How did he get telegraphic wire ? 



xxvin. 

How the Telegraph became successful. 

Morse now had but three pupils. One of his pupils, 
when his quarter's tuition was due, had not yet received his 
money from home, so that he could not pay the professor 
immediately. One day, when Morse came in, he said: 
" Well, Strother, my boy, how are we off for money ?" 
Professor, I'm sorry to say I have been disappointed, 
but I expect the money next week." 

Next week!" exclaimed Morse; " I shall be dead by 
next week." 

Dead, sir ? " 

Yes, dead of starvation." 
" Would ten dollars be of any service ?" asked Strother, 
in alarm. 

"Ten dollars would save my life; that is all it would 
do," answered the professor, who had not eaten a mouth- 
ful for twenty-four hours. The money was paid. 

Judge Vail grew discouraged about the telegraph. The 
old gentleman refused to look at the machine. Alfred Vail 
saw that if the work were not finished soon his father 
would put a stop to it. He and young Baxter stayed 



HOW THE TELEGRAPH BECAME SUCCESSFUL. 167 

close in their room, with Morse, working as fast as they 
could, and avoiding Judge Vail, lest he should say the 
words that would end their project. Baxter would watch 
the windows, and, when he saw Judge Vail go to din- 
ner, he would tell Morse and Alfred Vail, and they would 
all go to dinner at the house of Alfred's brother-in-law, 
making sure to get safe back before the judge should 
appear again. 

At last the invention was in working order, and Alfred 
Vail said to Baxter: 

" William, go up to the house and ask father to come 
down and see the telegraph machine work." 

The boy ran eagerly, in his shop clothes and without 
any coat, and Judge Vail followed him back to the little 
room. Mr. Vail wrote on a slip of pa- 
per, " A patient waiter is no loser." 
He handed this to Alfred, saying: ^^^ifc*i=^-4«r^-=s^^«^JKf 

if you can send that so that instrument for sending teleqrams 
Professor Morse can read it at the 
other end of the wire, I shall be convinced." 

Alfred clicked it off, and Morse read it at his end. 
The old gentleman was overjoyed. 

But there was a great deal of trouble after this in 
getting the matter started. It was thought necessary to 
have the government build the first line, because business 
men were slow to try new things in that day. The Presi- 
dent, and other public men, showed much curiosity about 
the new machine, but Congress was slow to give money 
to construct a line. 




l68 HOW THE TELEGRAPH BECAME SUCCESSFUL. 

In 1842 a bill was passed in the House of Representa- 
tives appropriating thirty thousand dollars to construct a 
telegraph on Morse's plan from Washington to Baltimore. 
It had yet to pass the Senate before it could become a law. 
When the last hours of the session had arrived, a senator 
told Morse that his bill could not be passed, there were so 
many other bills to be voted on before it. Morse went to 
his hotel, and found that, after paying his bill and buying 
his ticket to New York, he had thirty-seven cents left. 

But the next morning, while he was eating his break- 
fast before leaving Washington, Miss Ellsworth, the daugh- 
ter of the commissioner of patents, brought Morse word 
that his bill had passed the night before. For her kind- 
ness the inventor promised her that she should send the 
first message over a telegraph Hne. 

Morse tried to lay his wires underground in pipes, but 
it was found that naked wires laid in this way let the elec- 
tricity escape into the ground. What was to be done ? 
There were now but seven thousand dollars left of the 
thirty thousand. To change their plan would be to con- 
fess that those who were building the telegraph had made 
a mistake, and this would make people more suspicious 
than ever. The machine for digging the ditch in which the 
wires were to be laid was run against a stone and broken 
on purpose to make an excuse for changing the plan. 

A year had been wasted, when it was decided to put 
the wires on poles. At last, in 1844, the wires were 
strung, and Miss Ellsworth sent the first message, which 
was, "What hath God wrought!" The first news that 



HOW THE TELEGRAPH BECAME SUCCESSFUL. 169 

went over the wire was that James K. Polk had been 
nominated for President. 

But at first people would not believe that messages had 
come over the wire. They waited for the mails to bring 
the same news before they could believe it. One man asked 
how large a bundle could be sent over the wires. A joking 
fellow hung a pair of dirty boots on the wire, and gave it 
out that they had got muddy from traveling so fast. A 
woman who saw a telegraph pole planted in front of her 
door said she supposed she could not punish her children 
any more without everybody knowing it. She thought the 
wire would carry news of its own accord. At first few 
messages were sent. The operators worked for nothing, 
and slept under their tables. But after a while people be- 
gan to use the wires, which were gradually extended over 
the country. Another kind of electric telegraph had been 
tried in England, but Morse's plan was found the best. 

Before Morse put up his first line he had tried a tele- 
graph through the water. To keep the electricity from 
escaping, he wound the wire with thread soaked in pitch 
and surrounded it with rubber. He laid this wire from 
Castle Garden, at the lower end of New York city, across 
to Governor's Island, in the harbor. He was able to tele- 
graph through it, but before he could exhibit it the anchor 
of a vessel drew up the wire, and the sailors carried off 
part of it. 

About 1850, Cyrus W. Field, of New York, got the 
notion that a telegraph could be laid across the Atlantic 
Ocean. After much trouble to raise the money needed, 



I/O 



HOW THE TELEGRAPH BECAME SUCCESSFUL. 



and two attempts to lay a telegraph cable across the 
ocean, the first cable was laid successfully in 1858. The 
Queen of England sent a message to the President of 
the United States, and President Buchanan sent a reply. 
Many great meetings were held to rejoice over this union 
of the Old World with the New. But the first Atlantic 
telegraph cable worked feebly for three weeks, and then 
ceased to work altogether. 

Mr. Field now found it hard work to get people to 
put money into a new cable. Seven years after the first 

one was laid, the Great Eastern, 
the largest ship afloat, laid 
twelve hundred miles of 
telegraph cable in the 
Atlantic Ocean, when 
•^^■^ the cable suddenly 
broke. The next year, 
in 1866, the end of this ca- 
ble was found and brought 
up from the bottom of the sea. It was spliced to a new 
one, which was laid successfully. 

Morse lived to old age, no longer pinched for money, 
and honored in Europe and America for his great inven- 
tion. He died in 1872, when nearly eighty-one years old. 
The latest wonder in telegraphing is the telephone, 
which is a machine by which the actual words spoken are 
carried upon a wire and heard at the other end of the 
line. The invention was made about the same time, in 
somewhat different forms, by several different men. 




THE GREAT EASTERN. 



HOW THE TELEGRx^PH BECAME SUCCESSFUL. 



171 



House of Rep-re-sent' -a-tives, part of Congress; a body of men 
elected by districts. Sen'-ate, the other part of Congress, chosen by the 
States. The Senate meets at one end of the capitol and the House of Rep- 
resentatives at the other. A bill must be agreed to by botli. in order to be- 
come a law. Ap-pro'-pri-ate, to set apart for a particular purpose. 
Exhibit [egz-ib'-it], to show. 

Tell in your own words about — 

The finishing of the invention in Judge Vail's shop. 

The passing of the bill in Congress. 

The building of the first telegraph line. 

The sending of the first message. 

The mistakes which people made regarding the telegraph. 

The laying of the Atlantic cable. 

The telephone. 
What is a telegraph used for ? 
What do you know about how it is worked ? 



XXIX. 
Early Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

Five years after Daniel Boone 
took his family to Kentucky 
there came over the mountains 
a man named Abraham Lincoln, 
bringing his wife and children. 
The Lincolns and Boones were 
friends. They were much the 
same kind of people, hunters 
and pioneers, always seeking a new and wild country to 
liv^e in. This Abraham Lincoln, the friend of Boone, was 
grandfather of President Abraham Lincoln, who was born 
in a log cabin in Kentucky in 1809. 




A SCHOOLHOUSE IN THE BACKWOODS. 



1^2 



EARLY LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



When little Abe Lincoln was seven years old, his father 
moved from Kentucky to southwestern Indiana, which was 
then a wild country. Here he lived in a house of the 
roughest and poorest sort known to backwoods people. It 
had three sides closed with logs. The other side was left 
entirely open to the weather. There was no chimney, but 
the fire was built out of doors in front of the open side. 
There was no floor. Such a wretched shelter is called a 
" half-faced camp." It is not so good as some Indian wig- 
wams. Of course, the food and clothes and beds of a 
family living in this way were miserable. 

Poor little Abe Lincoln sometimes attended backwoods 
schools. The logr schoolhouses in Indiana at that time 




YOUNG LINCOLN WRITING LETTERS FOR THE NEIGHBORS. 

had large open fireplaces, in which there was a great 
blazing fire in the winter. The boys of the school had to 



EARLY LIFE OF ABRAHAM LLMCOLN. 



173 



chop and bring in the -wood for this fire. The floor of 
such a schoolhouse was of rough boards hewn out with 
axes. The schoolmasters were generally harsh men, who 
persuaded their pupils to study by means of long beech 
switches, such as they were accustomed to use in driving 
oxen. These schoolmasters did not know much themselves, 
but bright little Abe 
Lincoln soonlearned 
to write. This was 
very handy for his 
father andothermen 
in the neighborhood 
who could not write, 
and who got Abra- 
ham to write their 
letters for them. 

Lincolncouldnot 
get many books to 
read in a community so 
destitute and illiterate. 
He could not have wasted 
his time and weakened his 
mind, as so many boys and 
girls do now, by reading exciting 
stories, for he did not have them. He read jai.iiiiij, uic 
books that he had. The Bible, yfisop's Fables, Pilgrim's 
Progress, a life of Washington, and a life of Henry Clay 
he read over and over again, for he could get no other 
books. Whenever he heard any subject talked about 




174 EARLY LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

that he did not understand, he would go off alone and 
think it out, and try to put it into clear words. This 
habit of close and careful thinking, and this practice in 
clothing his thoughts in words that exactly fitted them, 
was the best education in the world. Many boys and girls 
who have good schools and good books never learn to 
think for themselves. 

When one is poor, a little money means a great deal. 
One day Abraham Lincoln, by this time eighteen years 
old, rowed two men with their baggage from the shore 
out to a steamboat in the Ohio River. For this the men 
dropped two silver half-dollars into the boat. Abraham 
was overjoyed. To think that a poor boy could earn so 
much money in so short a time made the whole world 
seem wider and fairer before him, he said. 

The people of southern Indiana in that day used to 
send what they raised on their farms to New Orleans. 
— -~c. They loaded their corn, hay, 

.- idfr. ^- and potatoes on large 

~ ~^^' — rlat boats, some- 

times a hundred 
^^ _ feet long. These 

boats were floated 

"^ AN OHIO RIVER FLATBOAT On the currcut of the 

Ohio River to where that 
river empties into the Mississippi, and then down the Mis- 
sissippi. It was a long voyage, and the boatmen had to live 
on their boats for many weeks. They rowed the boats with 
long sweeps, or oars, which required two and sometimes 




EARLY LIFE OF ABRAHAM LLVCOLN. 



175 



four men to move each one of them. Lincohi was much 
trusted, and when he was nineteen years old he was sent 
down the river in charge of one of these boats. This gave 
him his first knowledge of the world. 

By the time he was twenty-one 
had attained the height of six feet 
four inches. His father, who was 
always poor, once more sought a 
newer country by removing to Illi- 
nois. Here Abraham helped to 
build a log cabin, and then he split 
the rails to make a fence around 
the new cornfield. In order to get 
clothes, he went out to work as a hired 
man on a neighbor's farm. The 
cloth used by the Western people .. 
at that time was woven by hand 
in their own homes. Lincoln ^^^ 
had to split four hundred rails to 
pay for each yard of the home- 
spun brown jeans that went to make 
his trousers. Perhaps he was sorry to be so tall and to 
need so much cloth for a pair of trousers. 

Lincoln went a second time on a flatboat to New Or- 
leans. The boat was loaded with live hogs, and it is said 
that Lincoln, finding that the hogs could not be driven, 
carried them on board the boat in his long arms. After 
he came back he became a clerk in a country store, where 
he employed his spare time in reading. Like Franklin, he 




''^v y/ 



RAIL SPLITTING. 



176 EARLY LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

got his education by the right use of his leisure time. In 
this store he showed that careful honesty for which he 
was always remarkable. Once, when by mistake he had 
taken a " fip " — that is, six and a quarter cents — more 
than was due from a customer, he walked several miles 
the same night to return the money. When he found 
that, by using the wrong weight, he had given a woman 
two ounces of tea less than she ought to have had, he 
again walked a long distance in order to make the matter 
right. 

One of the things he wanted to learn was English 
grammar, in order to speak more correctly; but gram- 
mars were hard to find at that time. He heard of a man 
eight miles away who had a grammar, so he walked the 
eight miles and borrowed it. Lincoln got a lawyer who 
sometimes visited the store to explain what he could not 
understand in his grammar. 

Honie'-spun, cloth made at home. Jeans [jeens], a strong home- 
made woolen cloth, often called " Kentucky jeans." It was the cloth most 
used for men's garments while the country west of the Alleghanies was 
new. (The word Jean originally meant a stout cotton cloth, and is so used 
in Europe.) Fip, a coin no longer used. It was worth six and a quarter 
cents, and had been called " fivepenny bit," from which " fip'ny bit," and 
then "fip." The same coin was called a " sixpence " in New York, and 
by other names elsewhere. 

Give some account of — 

Abraham Lincoln's childhood. 
His education. 

His work at farming and flatboating. 
His honesty. 



LINCOLN IN PUBLIC LIFE. I77 

XXX. 
Lincoln in Public Life, 

In 1832, when there was an Indian war in Illinois, 
known as the Blackhawk War, Lincohi volunteered to 
fight against the chief Blackhawk and his Indians. Lin- 
coln was chosen captain of the company. But he did not 
happen to be in any battle during the war. He used to 
say, jokingly, that he " fought, bled, and came away." 

When "Captain" Lincoln got home from the Black- 
hawk War, he bought out a country store in New Salem, 
where he lived. He had a worthless young man for a 
partner, and Lincoln himself was a better student than 
merchant. Many bad debts were made, and, after a while, 
as Lincoln expressed it, the store " winked out." This 
failure left him in debt. For six years afterwards he lived 
very savingly, until he had paid every cent of his debts. 
After he ceased to keep store he was postmaster. In a 
country post ofifice he could borrow and read his neigh- 
bors' papers before they were called for. He used to 
carry letters about in the crown of his hat, and distribute 
the mail in that way. 

Next he became a surveyor. He studied surveying 
alone, as he did other things. His strict honesty and his 
charming good-nature, as well as his bright speeches, 
amusing stories, and witty sayings, made him a favorite 
among the people. In 1834 he was elected to the Illi- 
nois Legislature. In a suit of homespun he walked a hun- 
dred miles to attend the Lesfislature. When the session 



178 



LINCOLN IN PUBLIC LIFE. 



was over he came home and went to surveying again. 
Whenever he had a httle money he appHed himself to 
studying law. When his money gave out he took up his 

compass and 
went back to 
surveying. 

In 1837 
he went to 
Springfield, 
and began 
life as a 
lawyer. The 
lawyers of 
that day rode 
from county 
to county 
to attend 
the courts. 
Lincoln 
rode the 
circuit," as it 
was called, 
with the others, and he 
was soon a successful lawyer. 
He would not take a case which would put him on the 
unjust side of a quarrel. Nor would he take pay from 
people whom he knew to be poor, so he did not become 
a rich man. 

Lincoln was always remarkable for his kindness of 




LINCOLN SURVEYING. 



LINCOLN LNT PUBLIC LIFE. I79 

heart. While riding along the road one day he saw a 
pig fast in a mudhole. As he had on a new suit of 
clothes he did not like to touch the muddy pig, and so 
he rode on, leaving piggy to get out if he could. But 
he could not get the pig out of his thoughts, so, when 
he had gone two miles, he turned his horse back and 
helped the floundering pig out of his distress. He said 
he did this to " take a pain out of his own mind." 

Once a poor widow, who had been kind to him many 
years before, asked him to defend her son, who was on 
trial for murder. It was proved in court by a witness 
that in a drunken row this widow's son had struck the 
blow that killed the man. Everybody thought the young 
man would be hanged. When questioned by Lincoln, the 
witness said that he had seen the murder by moonlight. 
Then Lincoln took a little almanac out of his pocket, and 
showed the court that at the time the man was killed the 
moon had not risen. The young man was declared " not 
guilty," but Lincoln would not take any pay from the 
mother. 

In 1846 Abraham Lincoln was elected a member of 
Congress. This was during the war with Mexico. In 
that day the Southern States allowed negroes to be held 
as slaves. The Northern States had abolished slavery, so 
that part of the States were called free States and part 
slave States. There came up, about this time, a great 
debate as to whether slavery should be allowed in the 
new Territories. Lincoln strongly opposed the holding 
of slaves in the Territories, and he soon became known 



l80 LINCOLN IN PUBLIC LIFE. 

as a speaker on that side of the question. His fame 
reached to the East, and Abraham Lincoln, who had come 
up from the poverty of a half-faced camp, was invited to 
address a large meeting in the great hall of Cooper Insti- 
tute, in New York. You see, the boy who had tried to 
think everything out clearly, and to put every subject into 
just the right words, had got such a knack of saying 
things well, that multitudes of educated people were de- 
lighted to listen to his clear and witty speeches. 

When, in i860, the antislavery men came to nominate 
a President, many of the Western people wanted Lincoln, 
whom they had come to call " Old Abe," and " Honest 
Old Abe." When the convention that was to nominate 
a President met, the friends of Lincoln carried in two of 
the fence rails he had split when he v/as a young man, 
and thousands of people cheered them. Lincoln was 
nominated, and, as the other party split into two parts, he 
was elected. 

This election was followed by the great civil war. 
The war made President Lincoln's place a very trying 
one, for people blamed him for all defeats and failures. 
But during all the four years of war he was patient and 
kindly, and by his honesty and wisdom he won the affec- 
tions of the people and the soldiers. People thought of 
him at first as only a man who had happened to get 
elected President. But during these long years he showed 
himself a great man, and when the war was ended he was 
respected over all the world. 

When the terrible war was over and the soldiers were 



LINCOLN IN rUBLIC LIFE. l8l 

coming home, Lincoln was shot by an assassin as he sat 
in the theater, on the 14th of April, 1865. His death was 
lamented not only over all this country, but throughout 
Europe, for his goodness of heart made him as much 
loved as his greatness of mind made him admired. 

Com'-pass, an instrument showing direction by means of a magnetic 
needle which points always toward the north and south poles. It is used by 
surveyors to fix the direction of lines between parcels of land. Circuit 
[sir'-kit], in the lesson, means all places in which a judge held courts. 
Nom'-i-nate, to name a man as the candidate of a party for a particular 
office. Civ'-il 'war, war between two parties in the same country. As- 
sas'-sin, one who murders another. 

Tell about — 

The various occupations of Lincoln before he became a lawyer. 

Lincoln as a lawyer. 

The stories of Lincoln's kindness. 

Lincoln's part in the debate about slavery. 

How he was nominated and elected. 

Lincoln as President. 

Lincoln's death. 



XXXI. 

Something about the Great Civil War. 

Soon after Abraham Lincoln became President there 
broke out the civil war, which caused the death of many 
hundreds of thousands of brave men, and brought sorrow 
to nearly every home in the United States. Perhaps none 
of those who study this book will ever see so sad a time. 
But it was also a brave time, when men gave their lives for 
the cause they believed to be right. Women, in those days, 
suffered in patience the loss of their husbands and sons, and 



I82 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 



very many of them went to nurse the wounded, or toiled 
at home to gather supplies of nourishing food for sick 
soldiers iit hospitals. 

The war came about in this way: There had been 
almost from the foundation of the Government a rivalry 
between the Northern and Southern States. Long and 
angry debates took place about slavery, about the rights of 
the States and the government of the Territories. These 
had produced much bitter feeling. When a President op- 
posed to slavery was elected, some of the Southern States 
asserted that they had a right to withdraw from the Union. 
This the Northern States denied, declaring that the Union 
could not be divided ; but before Lincoln was inaugurated, 
seven States had declared themselves out of the Union. 
They formed a new government, which they 
called " the Confederate States of America," 
and elected Jefferson Davis President. 

President Lincoln refused to acknowledge 
that the Confederate States were a govern- 
ment. He refused to allow the United States 
fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Caro- 
lina, to be surrendered to the Confederates, 
and he sent ships with provisions for the 
small garrison of this fort. The Southern 
troops about Charleston refused to let 
these provisions be landed, and at length 
opened fire on the fort. This began the 
war. Four other States now joined the 
Confederacy, making eleven in all. 




ULYSSES S. GRANT. 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 



183 



It was a time of awful excitement in every part of the 
country. All winter long angry passions had been rising 
both in the North and in the South. When the first gun 
was fired at Sumter, in April, 1861, there was such a storm 
of fierce excitement as may never be seen again in Amer- 
ica. In the North, a hundred thousand men 
were enlisted in three days. The excitement in 
the South was just as great, and a large por- 
tion of the Southern people rushed to arms. 
In those stormy times the drums were beat- 
ing all day long in the streets; flags waved 
in every direction, and trains were thronged 
with armed men bidding farewell to friends 
and hastening forward to battle and death. 
Men and women wept in the streets as they 
cheered " the boys" who were hurrying away 
to the war. For a while people hardly 
took time to sleep. 

We can not tell the story of the war 
in this book; you will study it in larger 
histories. The armies on both sides became very large, 
and during the war there were some of the greatest con- 
flicts ever .seen in the world. The first great battle was 
fought at Shiloh, in Tennessee. Others took place at Mur- 
freesboro [mur'-freze-bur'-ro], Chickamauga [chick-a-maw'- 
gah], and Nashville, in Tennessee; at Antietam [an-tee'- 
tam], in Maryland; and at Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania. 
Very many battles, great and small, were fought in Virginia, 
between Washington and Richmond. 




1 84 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 



On the side of the Union the three most famous generals 
were U. S. Grant, W. T. Sherman, and Phihp H. Sheri- 
dan. The three greatest generals on the Confederate side 
/^\^ were Robert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston, and 
Thomas J. Jackson, commonly called " Stone- 
wall Jackson." 

Both sides showed the greatest courage. 
The generals on both sides were very skill- 
ful. Victory was now with one party and 
now with the other; but, as the years passed 
on, the Union armies, being the stronger, 
gradually gained one advan- 
tage after another. By 
means of troops and gun- 
boats sent down from the 
North under Grant, and a 
fleet under Admiral Farra- 
gut, which was sent around 
by sea to capture New Orleans, the whole 
of the Mississippi River was secured. Be- 
tween Washington and Richmond the Con- 
federates won many victories, but they -,': 
were at length compelled to fall back be- ^^ 
hind the fortifications of Richmond and 
Petersburg, where they were besieged by 
General Grant. 

During the time of this siege General Sherman marched 
directly into the heart of the Confederacy, where he was 
for weeks without any communication with the North. He 




CONFEDERATE SOLDIER. 




UNION SOLDIER. 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE GREAT CIVIL WAR. 185 

marched across the great and fertile State of Georgia, from 
Atlanta to Savannah, on the seacoast, and then from Sa- 
vannah northward toward Richmond. By destroying the 
railroads and the food by which General Lee's army in 
Richmond was supplied, this march of Sherman's made it 
impossible for the Confederates to continue the war. 

Lee was forced to retreat from Richmond, and he sur- 
rendered his army on the 9th of April, 1865. All the other 
Confederate forces soon after laid down their arms. The 
war had lasted four years. As a result of the long strug- 
gle, slavery was abolished in all the territory of the United 
States. 

Ri'-val-ry here means a strife for influence or mastery in the Govern- 
ment. Ter'-ri-to-ries, regions of country belonging to the United States 
not yet admitted to the Union as States. Most of the States were gov- 
erned as Territories until they contained population enough for States, and 
the present Territories expect to be made into States. The States regulate 
their own affairs and have full representation in both houses of Congress. 
The Territories are governed as Congress may direct. Gun'-boat, a 
small war vessel adapted to shallow water. Fertile [fer'-til], fruitful, bear- 
ing abundant crops. Abolished [a-bol'-isht], done away with ; destroyed. 

Tell about — 

The sorrows of the civil war. 

The courage and self-sacrifice of the war. 

The causes of the war. 

The Confederate States. 

The firing of the first gun. 

The excitement at the beginning of the war. 

The great battles. 

The great generals. 

The course of the war. 

Its end. 

I ts results. 



1 86 SOMETHING ABOUT THE SPANISH V/AR. 

XXXII. 
Something about the Spanish War. 

The war with Spain took place in 1898. It was caused 
by two things. For many years there had been a rebelHon 
against Spain in Cuba. Our people were very sorry for the 
Cuban people, who were treated cruelly. This made the 
Spaniards angry at the United States. One of our war ships, 
the Maine, was sent to the harbor of Havana [ha-van'a], to 
protect Americans there. It was blown up in the night and 
two hundred and sixty-six men on board were killed. An 
examination showed that it was blown up by something 
placed against the outside of the ship. This aroused the 
American people. Congress demanded that Spain should 
take her armies away from Cuba. This she refused to do, 
and war was declared. 

When war was declared, there was an American fleet in 
Chinese waters. There was a Spanish fleet at Manila [ma- 
nil'a] in the Philippine [fil'ip-in] Islands, which belonged to 
Spain. Commodore Dewey, who commanded the American 
fleet, sailed to Manila as soon as he heard of the beginning 
of the war. 

Not finding the Spanish fleet outside of the harbor, he 
sailed into the great Bay of Manila very silently. This was 
about midnight before the morning of the first day of May. 
All the lights on the ships that could have been seen from 
the shore were put out, so that the last ship was passing the 
batteries at the entrance to the bay before the alarm was 
given. At daylight the ships gave battle to the Spanish 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE SPANISH WAR. 



1 8; 



fleet, which was protected by shore batteries. It seemed 
certain that some, if not all, of the American ships would be 
sunk by the heavy guns on shore, but the Spanish gunners 
were not equal to those of the American ships, who had 
given much attention to target practice. The Spaniards 




BATTLE OF MANILA BAY. 



fought bravely, but their shore batteries were silenced and 
their fleet destroyed by the American fire. The American 
fleet did not lose a single man in the fight. 

A Spanish fleet sent from Spain to attack the American 
coast towns took refuge in the harbor of Santiago [sahn-te- 
ah'go] in Cuba. The harbor was so well protected that the 



1 88 SOMETHING ABOUT THE SPANISH WAR, 

American fleet could not enter it. An army was landed to 
the east of the city of Santiago to take it by land. One 
portion of this army was sent to take the little village of El 
Caney [ca-nay'J at the north, and another was sent to wait in 
front of the hill of San Juan [hoo-ahn'] and capture that 
after El Caney was taken. But the men in front of the bat- 
teries of San Juan found themselves under fire. Many of 
them were killed. They could not retreat, for the narrow 
road behind them was crowded. They were not willing to 
stay where they were and be slaughtered. So they resolved 
about noon to attack the Spaniards in the batteries ahead of 
them. " If you don't wish to go along," said the colonel of 
the regiment known as the Rough Riders, " let my men 
pass, please." But the men to whom he spoke did wish to 
go along. They fell into line and followed Roosevelt [rose'- 
velt], who led a desperate charge on horseback. In another 
part of the line a veteran general, Hawkins, rode at the head 
of his men, waving his hat. Slowly up the hill marched the 
Americans under a deadly fire, until at last they carried the 
trenches and blockhouse at the summit with a rush. 

Three miles away, at El Caney, a yet more stubborn 
fight was raging. The Americans in the thick of it were 
commanded by General Chaffee, who made his men lie down, 
but who stood erect himself. A button was shot off his coat, 
and one of his shoulder straps was torn by bullets. * At last 
the works at El Caney were carried. These battles took 
place on the ist of July. 

Two days after the battles by which the Americans carried 
the Spanish trenches, the American ships were watching the 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE SPANISH WAR. 1 89 

mouth of the harbor as usual. To their surprise the Spanish 
fleet was seen coming out from Santiago. The Spanish ships 
tried to escape by running to the westward. But the Ameri- 
can ships pursued and fought them until one after another 
of the Spanish vessels was sunk or set on fire. The Ameri- 
can sailors rescued as many as possible of the drowning 
Spaniards, and treated them kindly. The city of Santiago 
was soon after surrendered. After these successes of the 
Americans it was impossible for Spain to continue her resist- 
ance long. Peace was made at last. As a result of the 
war Spain gave up her authority over Cuba, Porto Rico 
[re'co], and the Philippine Islands. 

Re-beriion, open resistance by people to their own rulers. 
Com'mo-dore, a naval officer of high rank. Bat'ter-y, a place 
where cannon are set up, ready for use. Trench, a kind of ditch in 
which men are sheltered from the enemy's fire. 

Tell about— 

The rebellion in Cuba. 
The Maine. 

The battle of Manila Bay, 
The battles near Santiago. 
Commodore Dewey. 
The brave generals. 
The result of the war. 



190 GREAT EXPOSITIONS. 

XXXIII. 
Great Expositions. 

In the summer of 1876, a great exposition was held in the city 
of Philadelphia. It was called the Centennial Exposition, 
because its purpose was to celebrate the one-hundredth anni- 
versary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 
It was, in fact, a grand birthday party. The United States, 
as a free and independent country, was one hundred years 
old ; and all the world was invited to come or send delegates to 
the celebration. 

Nearly every civilized nation accepted the invitation ; and 
samples of the natural products, the manufactures, and the 
inventions of every country were brought together for exhibi- 
tion. For it had been decided that the nation's birthday cele- 
bration should be in the form of a world's fair where the great 
achievements of mankind in science, art, and literature might 
be seen. 

Our own country had made wonderful progress during the 
first hundred years of its life. In the matter of labor-saving 
and useful inventions, not one of the older nations was able to 
make so good a showing. Numerous and wonderful were the 
machines and mechanical improvements that were exhibited. 
Steam engines, locomotives, reapers and mowers, threshing 
machines, cotton gins, the telegraph, sewing machines — most 
of them the inventions of Americans — formed no small por- 
tion of the wonderful things that had come into existence 
since the nation's birth on July 4th, 1776. The telephone and 
the electric light, both in very crude forms, were exhibited only 



I 



GREAT EXPOSITIONS. 



191 



as curiosities ; for no one yet dreamed of the wonderful uses 
to which they would soon be put. Most of the electrical in- 
ventions which are now so common and which seem so neces- 
sary to us, were then unknown. 




MEMORIAL HALL AT CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION, PHILADELPH 



There were many other things shown besides machinery 
and inventions ; and all these redounded to the honor of our 
country and illustrated the wonderful progress that had been 
made. In 1776, the American nation consisted of thirteen 
struggling English colonies situated along the Atlantic coast. 
In 1876, or one hundred years later, its domain extended from 
ocean to ocean and embraced thirty-eight free and flourishing 
states. That the advancement in all branches of human effort 
had been equally great was shown by exhibits as instructive 
as they were marvelous. The nation's first great birthday party 
not only made other people acquainted with our country and 



192 GREAT EXPOSITIONS. 

its resources, but inspired our own people with the worthy 
ambition to press forward on the road of progress. 

Since then several other national expositions have been held 
in this country. In 1892, the Columbian Exposition at Chicago 
attracted the attention of the world. You can guess from its 
''name what were its occasion and purpose. Four hundred years 
had passed since Christopher Columbus sailed boldly across 
what was then an unknown ocean and discovered the new land 
of America. The Columbian Exposition, then, was held in 
honor of Columbus and to celebrate the anniversary of his 
great achievement. 

Again the nations of the world joined with the United States 
in a great industrial exhibition which marked the progress of 
mankind. And this progress had been so rapid that many of 
the things which had been objects of wonder at Philadelphia 
only sixteen years before, now seemed crude, common, and old- 
fashioned. The telephone and the electric light had already 
become useful ; and great improvements had been made in all 
kinds of machinery. 

In 1 90 1, the Pan-American Exposition was held at Buffalo, 
New York. One of the objects of this exposition was to bring 
into closer business relations and friendship all the various 
nations comprised in the continents of North America and 
South America. Special attention was therefore given to 
American products and the results of American enterprise, and 
the exposition did much towards making the people of the two 
continents acquainted with each other. It was while attending 
this exposition that William McKinley, the twenty-fifth Presi- 
dent of the United States, was killed by an assassin. He was 



GREAT EXPOSITIONS. 



193 



succeeded by the Vice President, Theodore Roosevelt, who 
was elected President for a second term in 1904. 

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition was held at St. Louis, 
Missouri, in 1904. It was designed to mark the one-hun- 
dredth year since the vast province or territory of Louisiana 
became a part of the United States. As we have already 
learned (page 131), the purchase of this region by President 
Jefferson more than doubled the size of the United States. 
The new territory was divided into many states and became one 
of the richest and most important portions of our country. 

The exposition at St. Louis rivaled if it did not excel any of 
the similar events before it. Many of the inventions and 
products that were shown 
there were unknown at the 
time of the Centennial Ex- 
position only twenty-eight 
years before. Phonographs, 
typewriters, bicycles, auto- 
mobiles, electric railroads, 
trolley cars, and many other things that are now in common 
use, had come into existence during that short period. More 
than all this, nations which in 1876 were regarded as outside 
of the circle of civilization, like Japan, China, and Siam, were 
well represented by a variety of useful and wonderful products. 
Thus the rapid progress of the world in matters of comfort and 
intelligence was again illustrated. 

In the year 191 5, our country celebrated the opening of the 
Panama Canal to the commerce of the world. As an important 
part of that celebration, expositions were held at San Francisco 




EARLY AUTOMOBILE. 



194 



GREAT EXPOSITIONS. 



and at San Diego, California, rivaling in interest and impor- 
tance all that had preceded them. 




EXPOSITION AT SAN FRANCISCO. 



The opening of the Panama Canal was one of the great 
events in the history of our country. In the next chapter 
of this book we will read about that canal, which is probably 
the most important work of its kind in the world. 

Ex-po-si'-tion, a great exhibition of manufactured objects, natural 
products, and other interesting things. Cen-ten'-ni-al, from two Latin 
words meaning the hundredth year. Del'-e-gates, persons chosen to 
represent others and to act for them. In-dus'-tri-al, relating to labor 
and industry. 

Tell about the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 
Name some of the great inventions that were made previous to the 
year 1876. 

Name some great inventions that were made after that date. 



THE PANAMA CANAL. 195 

XXXIV. 
The Panama Canal. 

Panama is the name given to the isthmus or narrow neck 
of land that connects the two continents of North America 
and South America. When Columbus was on his fourth and 
last voyage he sailed along the northern coast of this isthmus, 
vainly trying to find a passage to India ; for he supposed that 
India was quite near, and never dreamed that a vast ocean 
still lay between him and the Far East. A few years later, a 
daring Spaniard named Balboa (bal-bo'-a) climbed the low range 
of mountains in the interior of the isthmus and discovered the 
mighty Pacific only a short distance beyond. The Spaniards, 
some time afterward, built a roadway across the isthmus 
which they used in conveying goods and treasure from one 
ocean to the other. Mules with packsaddles were used instead 
of wagons. As early as 1560, a Spaniard named Gomera 
(go-ma'-ra) suggested the building of a canal. But more than 
three hundred years elapsed before any work of that kind was 
attempted. 

In 1 88 1 a French company began work on the canal under 
the direction of a famous French engineer named De Lesseps. 
Eight years passed. Little was accomplished, although many 
millions of dollars were wasted. Finally, the work was aban- 
doned and the canal company offered to sell its rights to the 
United States. 

It was not until 1902, however, that our government was 
ready to begin operations. In the following year the state of 
Panama, which is about the size of South Carolina, revolted 



196 



THE PANAMA CANAL. 



from Colombia, a country in South America, and declared itself 
independent. It then made a treaty with the United States 
by which a strip of land five miles wide on each side of the canal 
was granted to our government. This strip is known as the 
Canal Zone and is one of the possessions of the United States. 
Work was begun at once. The estimated cost was three 
hundred and seventy-five mi lion dollars. There were no 
serious hindrances and the canal was ready, in January, 191 5, 




SHIP PASSING THROUGH THE PANAMA CANAL. 



for the passage of the largest vessels. Its total length from 
ocean to ocean is about fifty miles, and the bottom width of 
the channel is from 300 to 650 feet. The advantages of the 
canal are very great. Vessels from seaports on the western 
coast of North America are no longer obliged to take the long 
voyage around the southern point of South America in order 
to reach the Atlantic. In sailing from San Francisco to New 



THE PANAMA CANAL. 197 

York, a distance of more than 8000 miles is saved. The cost of 
carrying all kinds of goods between Atlantic seaports and Pacific 
seaports has been very much lessened. No greater feat of 
engineering has ever been accomplished than the building of 
the Panama Canal. 

Our country now consists of forty-eight states and extends 
without a break across the North American continent. The 
population has increased from three millions to more than one 
hundred milHons. Great cities have sprung up wherever there 
were facilities for manufacturing or commerce. Railroads — 
things undreamed of a hundred years ago — cover the country 
like a network and make travehng easy. Telegraph lines and 
telephones carry the news of the world quickly to every city 
and town, and the newspapers print the same for the informa- 
tion of the people. Mills and factories of all kinds give employ- 
ment to milHons of men and women. The great farming lands 
of the West supply the necessaries of life to half the world. In 
both East and West, rich mines supply coal and iron and pre- 
cious metals in never-failing quantities. In every state, there 
is an efhcient system of pubHc schools for the free education of 
the children of poor and rich alike. All these things belong to 
the history of our country ; they are the conquests of peace, 
and they help to make our nation strong and great. 

Isth'-mus, a narrow neck of land joining together two larger bodies 
of land: A-ban'-doned, given up. Ef-f i'-cient, effective ; highly useful. 

Give an account of the building of the Panama Canal. 
Why was this work of so great importance to our country? 



198 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES. 



XXXV. 

How the United States became Larger. 

An Object Lesson in Historic Geography. 

To THE Teacher.— When this lesson is studied, the pupil should 
cut out the blank parts of each leaf, as directed, before the lesson, or as 
it proceeds, laying each section of the map down so as to connect with 
the succeeding one, and giving time to impress vividly on his mind the 
form and relative extent of the national territory after each successive 
addition. When the book is used after the leaves have been cut out, a 
sheet of paper may be laid between pages 200 and 201, and then re- 
moved and placed, as the lesson progresses, between 202 and 203, 204 
and 205, 206 and 207. 

When Washington was a young man, the French 
claimed all the land west of the Alleghany Mountains. If 
the French had succeeded in holding all this western 
country the United States would always have been only 
a little strip of thirteen States along the Atlantic coast, 
reaching from Maine to Georgia. But by conquering 
Canada the English got possession of 
all the territory east of the Mississippi 
River. This was given up to England 
by the French in the treaty made 
twelve years before the Revolu- 
tionary War. Daniel Boone and 
other settlers soon after- 
wards crossed the 
mountains and be- 
^ gan to take posses- 
sion of the great West. 



SEVENTH ADDITION TO 
THE UNITED STATES. 
SEE PAGE 207. 





199 



PATENTED, MARCH 4, 1800. 
■<■ 
A. 

i Cut out along this dotted lir 
i to the edge of the paper. 



/ /:iiL^ 



Jl Cut out along this edge 
of the map. 



This part of the leaf is to be cut out 
and thrown away. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES. 



20 1 



During the first year of the Revolution no care was 
taken to drive the British from the forts in the West. 
But in 1778 George Rogers Clark ]ed a 
Httle band of Kentucky settlers through 
the wilderness to the Mississippi Riv- 
er, where he captured the British fort 
at Kaskaskia, in what is now Illinois. 
He then marched eastward and cap- 
tured Vincennes, in the present State of 
Indiana, These and other victories of 
Clark gave the United 



Cut out along the dotted lii 



FIRST ADDITION, 

PROVINCE OF LOUISIANA, 

PURCHASED m 1803. 




Cut out this part of the paper along the dotted lines 
and along the edge of the map. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES, 



203 



THIRD ADDITION, FLORIDA, 1821. 



States, at the close of the war, a claim to all the coun- 
try lying east of the Mississippi. In the map, page 199, 
you will see what was the size of our 
country when the war closed. 

In 1803, twenty-one years after the 
close of the Revolutionary War, Presi- 
dent Jefferson bought from France all 
that large region beyond the Mississippi 
River known then as Louisiana. It has 
since been cut up into many States and 
Territories. You will see by the sec- 
tion of the map on page 201 just how 
large it was. If you cut off the white 

part of page 199 and lay the leaf ; 

down on page 201, you will see I 
just how much the United States : 
was increased in size when 
Jefferson bought the old 
province of Louisiana. The 



SECOND ADDITION, OREGON COUNTRY," 

BY EXPLORATION BEFORE AND 

IN THE YEAR 1806. 




Cut out this part of the leaf 

within the dotted lines, 

and along the edge of the map. 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES. 



205 



FOURTH ADDITION, REPUBLIC OF TEXAS, 1846. 



size of the country was more than doubled when Lou- 
isiana was added to it. 

The province of Louisiana did not reach to the west- 
Avard of the Rocky Mountains. But in 179 1, before Lou- 
isiana was bought, Robert Gray, the first sea captain that 
ever carried the American flag around the world, discov- 
ered the river Oregon, which he called the Columbia, after 
the name of his ship. After Jefferson had bought Louisi- 
ana for the United States, he sent the explorers Lewis and 
Clark with a party to examine the western part of the 
new territory, and to push on to the Pacific. These men 
were two years and four months making the trip from 
St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean 
and back. They reached the 
ocean in 1805, and spent the win- 
ter at the mouth of the Columbia 
River. The " Oregon 
country," as it was called, 
was then an unclaimed 
wilderness, and the dis- 
covery of the riv- 
er by Captain 
Gray, with the ex- 
ploration of the 
country by Lewis 
and Clark, gave 
the United States 
a claim to it. 
The region which 




_y 



Cut out this part within the dotted lines. 



206 GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES. 

was added to the United States by these explorations is 
shown on page 203. By cutting off the white part of 
page 201 and laying it down upon 203, you will see how 
the " Oregon country " extended the United States to 
the Pacific Ocean. 

On this same page 203 you will also find a map of 
Florida. The peninsula of Florida was occupied by the 
Spaniards more than forty years before the first colony of 
English people landed at Jamestown. From the lime the 
colonies were settled, there were many quarrels between 
the people of this country and the Spanish inhabitants 
of Florida. But in 1821 Florida was bought from Spain, 
and became a part of the United States. 

Mexico, which was at first a Spanish colony, rebelled 
against Spain, and secured its independence. One of the 
States of the Mexican Republic was Texas. Americans 
who had settled in Texas got into a dispute with the 
government of Mexico. This took the form of a revolu- 
tion, and Texas became an independent republic, under 
a president of its own. In 1845 this republic of Texas 

was annexed to 
the United States 
by its own con- 
sent, and has 
been from that 
time the largest 
State in the 
Union. By re- 
moving the blank 



GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES. 



207 



part of page 203 you will connect the map of Texas, on 
page 205, with the rest, and this will show what our coun- 
try was in 1845. 

The Mexicans, though driven out of Texas, were quite 
unwilling to lose so large a territory. The annexation of 
Texas to the United States led to a war with Mexico, which 
lasted two years. During this war the United States troops 
took from Mexico California, on the Pacific coast, and a 
large region known as New Mexico, in the interior. At 
the close of the war, in 1847, this territory was retained by 
the United States, which paid to Mexico fifteen million 
dollars for it. Another small tract was bought from Mex- 
ico in 185 1, which we may account part of the addition 
from Mexico in consequence of the war, and consider the 
two together. You will see, on this page, how large a re- 
gion was added to the country by these annexations from 
Mexico. Cut out the blank space from page 205, and 
you will see how the country has been built up by ad- 
ditions of territory 
to its present size. 

The only parts of 
our continent gov- 
erned by the United 
States which lie sepa- 
rate from the rest are 
Alaska and the Canal 
Zone. Alaska was 
bought from Russia 
in 1867. You will 



FIFTH AND SIXTH ADDITIONS, 
TERRITORY CEDED BY MEXICO 



IN 1848 AND 18 




208 GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES. 

get some notion of its position with reference to the rest of 
the country by looking at the map on page 198, in its rela- 
tion to the sections on pages 199, 201, 203, 205, and 207. 
The Canal Zone came under the control of the United States 
in 1904. Our country also owns some outlying islands : the 
Hawaiian Islands, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which 
were annexed in 1898; and the islands taken from Spain at 
the close of the Spanish War. The territory of the United 
States is thus made up of eleven parts. There is, first, the 
country as it was at the close of the Revolutionary War, and 
then ten additions made at different times. 

Prov'-ince, a colony or region belonging to a distant country. 
Treaty [tree'-ty], a contract or agreement between two nations. Re- 
pub'-lic, a country governed by representatives of the people. 

Tell about — 

The conquest of the West from the French. 

The capture of English forts at the West by George Rogers Clark. 
The western limit of the United States at the close of the Revolu- 
tionary War. 

The ten additions to the United States : 

1. The province of Louisiana. 

2. The Oregon Country. 

3. Florida. 

4. Texas. 

5 and 6. Additions from Mexico. 

7. Alaska. 

8. Hawaii. 

9. The islands from Spain. 
10. The Canal Zone. 



INDEX 



Adams, John, 129, 133. 

African coast, Portuguese discoveries on 
the, 3- 

Alaska, 207. 

Albany, 47. 

Alden, John, 52, 53. 

Alexander, Indian chief, 67, 68. 

Alleghany Mountains, 106, 135. 

America, discovery of, by Columbus, 10, 11; 
discoveries in, by John Cabot, 20, 21. 

Aimawon, Indian chief, 77-79. 

Antietam, battle of, 183. 

Argall, Samuel, makes Pocahontas a pris- 
oner, 37, 38; governor of Virginia, 40. 

Asia, plans for finding a new way to, 3, 4, 18 
(see also under China, India, Japan, and 
Pacific Ocean) ; supposed to have been 
reached by Columbus, 11, 17, 19; by John 
Cabot, 20, 21. 

Atlantic Ocean, the, called "The Sea of 
Darkness," 2, 8; laying of telegraph 
cables in, 169, 170. 

Awashonks, Indian chief, 74-76. 

Bacon, Nathaniel, and his men, 79-85. 

"Bacon's Laws," 82. 

Balboa, 195. 

Barcelona, entry of Columbus into, 14, 15. 

Berkeley, Sir William, 79-85. 

"Black Hunter" of Pennsylvania. See 

Jack, Captain. 
Blackhawk, Indian chief, 177. 
Blackhawk War, 177. 



Boone, Daniel, 134-140, ig8. 

Boonesborough, 137-140. 

Boston, founding of, 59 ; besieged by Wash- 
ington, 118. 

Boston Tea Party, the, 116. 

Braddock, Edward (general), expedition and 
defeat of, 111-113. 

Brookfield, Indian attack on, 71. 

Bunker Hill, battle of, 117, 118. 

Cable telegraph in the Atlantic Ocean, 169, 

170. 
Cabot, John, 18-23. 
Cabot, Sebastian, 21-23, 43- 
California, 207. 
Canada, discovery in, 20 ; French colonies 

in, 106; surrendered to the English, 114; 

conquered by the English, 198. 
Canal Zone, 196. 
Cape Breton Island discovered by John 

Cabot, 20. 
Captain Jack. See under Jack. 
Carolina, Cornwallis in, 122. 
Catskill Mountains, 47. 
Centennial Exposition, 190. 
Central America, Spanish possessions in, 42. 
Charles I, King of England, 60. 
Charles II, King of England, 60 ; grants 

land to William Penn, 64; death of, 65. 
Chesapeake Bay explored, 30. 
Chickahominy, attempts to find the Pacific 

Ocean and China by way of the, 26, 29. 
Chickamauga, battle at, 183. 



209 



2IO 



INDEX. 



"Chief who never Sleeps, the," a name given 
to General Wayne, 146. 

China, supposed to have been reached by 
John Cabot, 20; attempts to find a new 
way to, 30, 43- 

Church, Benjamin, in King Philip's War, 
74-79- 

Church and state separated in Virginia, 129. 

Cipango, name given by Marco Polo to 
Japan, 21. 

Civil War, 180, 181 ; causes of, 182 ; fall of 
Fort Sumter, battles of Shiloh, Murfrees- 
boro, Chickamauga, Nashville, Antietam, 
Gettysburg, and in Virginia, 183; capture 
of New Orleans, siege of Petersburg and 
Richmond, 184; Sherman's march to the 
sea, 184, 185; Lee's retreat and surrender, 
185. 

Clark, George Rogers, 201. 

Clark, William, 205. 

"Clermont, the," Fulton's steamboat, 143, 
144. 

Colonies in America, mismanagement of, 26; 
Captain Smith's successful management, 
28, 29; religious liberty sought in, 64; 
taxation of, 115, 116. See also under 
Revolutionary War. 

Columbia River discovered by Robert Gray, 
205 ; Lewis and Clark at the, 205. 

Columbian Exposition, 192. 

Columbus, Bartholomew, 19. 

Columbus, Christopher, early life of, 1-6 ; 
how he discovered America, 7-1 1; after 
the discovery of America, 12-17 ; attempt 
to reach the "Spice Islands of Asia," 18; 
his supposed discovery of India, 19. 

Compass, variation of the, 8. 

Confederate States of America, the formation 
of, 182. 

Congress, Colonial, appointed, 116. 

Constitution of the United States, the, for- 
mation of, 100; adoption of, 125. 

Corn, Indian. See Indian corn. 

Comwallis Charles (first marquess), at 



Trenton, 120, 121 ; victories in the South, 
122; defeat at Yorktown, 123, 124. 

Cuba, Columbus at, n ; war in, 186-188. 

Custis, Mrs. Martha, married to George 
Washington, 114. 

"Darkness, Sea of." See Atlantic Ocean. 
Davis, Jefferson, election of, as President, 

182. 
De Lesseps, French engineer, 195. 
Declaration of Independence, 99, 119, 190; 

Jefferson its author, 127, 129, 133. 
Delaware Bay, Henry Hudson on, 45. 
Delaware River, 64 ; crossing of the, by 

General Washington, 120. 
Dorchester Heights, 118. 
Duquesne, Fort, built by the French, 109; 

Braddock's expedition against, 111-113; 

the French driven out of, 114. 
Dutch discoveries in America, 45, 47, 48; 

colonization in America, 48. See also 

under Holland. 
Dutch East India Company, the, sends out 

Henry Hudson, 44. 

Electrical inventions, 190. 

Eliot, John, 68. 

England, war with Spain, 103 ; war with 
France, 109-114; taxation of the Ameri- 
can colonies by, 115; possessions in 
America, 198. See also Revolutionary 
War and War of 1812. 

English discoveries in America, 20; settle- 
ments in America, 25 ; settlers west of 
the Alleghanies, 106 ; possessions in 
America, 198. 

Entail, law of, in Virginia, 102, 129. 

Erie, Lake, battle of, 151.. 

Fairfax, Thomas (sixth baron), 104. 
Farragut, David G. (admiral), 184. 
Ferdinand, King of Spain, 4, 14. 
Field, Cyrus W., 169. 
Fireplace invented by Franklin, 97. 



INDEX. 



211 



Fitch, John, 141 ; his steamboat, 142. 
Florida owned by Spain, 157, 206; invaded 

by General Jackson, 158; purchased from 

Spain, 159, 206. 
Forbes, John (general), 114. 
Fort Duquesne. See Duquesne, Fort. 
Fort Meigs. See Meigs, Fort. 
Fort Mimms. See Mimms, Fort. 
Fort Necessity. See Necessity, Fort. 
Fort Pitt. See Pitt, Fort. 
Fort Sumter. See Sumter, Fort. 
France, war with England, 109-114; aid of, 

sought by the Americans, 99 ; aid given 

to the colonies against England, 99, 100, 

122; purchase of Louisiana from, 131, 199, 

205. See also under French. 
Franklin, Benjamin, boyhood of, 86-89; 

Franklin, the printer, 90-95 ; the great 

Doctor Franklin, 95-101 ; his education, 

how gained, 175, 176. 
French and Indian War, 109-114. 
French <:olonies and possessions in America, 

106, 198. 
French War, 109-114. See also under 

France. 
Friends. See Quakers. 
Fulton, Robert, and the steamboat, 141- 

145- 

Genoa, i, 2. 

George III, King of England, 128. 

Georgia, General Sherman's march through, 
185. 

Gettysburg, battle of, 183. 

Gist, Christopher, 107, 108. 

Goffe, William (colonel), 71; saves Hat- 
field, 72. 

Grant, U. S., 184. 

Gray, Robert, discovers the Oregon River, 
205. 

Great Eastern (ship), laying of telegraph 
cable by, 170. 

Great Meadows, Washington at, in. 

Growth of the United States, 198-208. 



Haiti {Hispaniola), Columbus at, 13; col- 
ony at, 15. 
Half-king, the Indian chief, 107. 
Half Moon, the (ship), 44, 46, 47. 
Hancock, John, 146. 
Harrison, Benjamin, 146. 
Harrison, WiUiam Henry, 146-152. 
Hatfield saved by Colonel Gofife, 71, 72. 
Henry VII, King of England, Columbus's 

plan ofi'ered to, 19; sends out expeditions 

under Cabot, 19, 21. 
Henry the Navigator, Prince, of Portugal, 

3, 4, 18. 
Henry, Patrick, speech of, against the 

Stamp Act, 128. 
Hessians hired by the King of England, 

119; surprised by General Washington 

at Trenton, 120. 
Hispaniola. See Haiti. 
Holland, religious liberty in, 49. See also 

under Dutch. 
Hopewell (ship), 43. 
Horseshoe Bend, battle at, 157. 
Hudson, Henry, 42-48. 
Hudson, John, 43. 
Hudson River, the, explored by Henry 

Hudson, 46, 47. 
Hudson Bay discovered by Henry Hudson, 

48. 

Illinois, 147; Indian war in, 177. 

Independence, Declaration of. See under 
Declaration. 

India, plans and attempts to find new routes 
to, 3, 4, 16, 26, 42, 44, 45; Columbus's 
supposed discovery of, 19. See also under 
Asia and Pacific Ocean. 

Indian com, 50, 55. 

Indiana, territory of, 147. 

Indiana, 147 ; products of, sent to New Or- 
leans, 174. 

Indians, treatment of, by Columbus, 12, 13; 
brought to Spain, 14; at Jamaica, 16; 
in Virginia, 25-28, 30-33, 35-41, 80, 82, 



212 



INDEX. 



83 ; sold as slaves, 33 ; attempts to Chris- 
tianize, 33 ; New England Indians, ss > 
in New Jersey, 45, 46 ; in New York, 47 ; 
in New England (Massachusetts), 50, 51, 
54-59, 67-69; in Pennsylvania, Penn's 
treaty with, 64, 65 ; John Eliot, 68 ; weap- 
ons of, 55, 69; wampum, 69, 70 ; methods 
of warfare, 70, 71, 74; King Philip's 
War, 70-79; Susquehannas, 80; in the 
French and Indian War, 106, 113, 118; in 
Kentucky, 135-140; aiding the English in 
the Revolutionary War, 139; war in 
Ohio, 146; war under Tecumseh in the 
Northwest, 147-150; aid rendered to the 
English in the War of 1812, 156-152, 158; 
war in the Southwest, 156, 157; Black- 
hawk War in Illinois, 177. 

Inheritance, laws of, in Virginia, 102, 129. 

Inventions, 190. 

Isabella, Queen of Spain, 14, 15, 17. 

Jack, Captain, 112, 113. 

Jackson, Andrew, 153-160. 

Jackson, Thomas J. ("Stonewall Jackson"), 
184. 

Jamaica, Columbus at, 16. 

James II, King of England, and William 
Penn, 65, 66.. See also York, Duke of. 

James River, Henry Hudson at the, 45. 

Jamestown, settlement at, 25; famine at, 
26 ; Pocahontas aids the colonists, 36 ; 
new colonists, Smith deposed, 37 ; troubles 
with the Indians, 37, 38, 40; Nathaniel 
Bacon and his men, 79-85. See also un- 
der Virginia. 

Japan, Cabot's attempt to fine, 21. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 127-133; purchase of 
Louisiana, 199, 201. 

Johnston, Joseph E., 184. 

Kaskaskia, capture of fort at, 201. 
Keith, Sir William, 92, 93, 94. 
Kentucky, settlement of, 1 14 ; Daniel Boone, 
134-140. 



King Philip's War, 70-79. See also under 

Philip. 
Knox, Henry (general), 124. 

Lake Erie. See Erie, Lake. 

Law of entail in Virginia, 102, 129. 

Lee, Robert E., 184; retreat from Rich- 
mond and surrender, 185. 

Lewis, Meriwether, 205. 

Lexington, battle at, 117. 

Liberty, religious. See Religious liberty. 

Library, public, first one in America, 97. 

Lightning, Franklin's discovery as to the 
nature of, 98, 99. 

Lightning rod, invention of the, 99. 

Lincoln, Abraham, 1 71-176; in public life, 
177-181. 

Livingston, Robert R. (chancellor), 143. 

Loe, Thomas, influence of, on William Penn, 
60, 61. 

Logtown, Washington's council with the 
Indians at, 108. 

Long Island, battle of, 119. 

Longfellow, Henry W., "Courtship of Miles 
Standish," 53. 

Louisiana, French colonies in, 106. 

"Louisiana purchase," the, 131, 191, 205. 

Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 193. 

McKinley, William, death of, 192. 

Mary, Queen of England, 66. 

Maryland, battle at Antietam, 183. 

Massachusetts, settlements in, 59. 

Massasoit, Indian chief, 56, 67. 

Matoax. See Pocahontas. 

Maumee River, battle with the Indians at 

the, 146. 
Mayflower, the (ship), 50. 
Meigs, Fort, General Harrison besieged in, 

151- 
Mexican War, the, 207. 
Mexico 206 ; war with, California and New 

Mexico bought from, 207. 
Mimms, Fort, attacked by Indians, 156. 



INDEX. 



213 



Minutemen, 117. 

Mississippi River secured by the Union 
Army, 184. 

Missouri, 140. 

Mobile, General Jackson's defense of, 158. 

Monticello, 128, 131. 

Morristown, Washington at, 121. 

Morse, Samuel F. B., and the telegraph, 
161-165 ; how the telegraph became suc- 
cessful, 166-170. 

Mount Vernon, 114, 115, 123, 124, 126 (illus- 
tration) . 

Mullins, Priscilla, 53. 

Murfreesboro, battle of, 183. 

Muscovy Company, the, 43, 44. 

Narragansett Indians, 56, 57, 67, 72, 73. 

Nashville, battle of, 183. 

Navigation by steam, various experiments 
in, 141, 142 ; Fulton's steamboat, 143, 144. 

Necessity, Fort, iii. 

New Brunswick, Cornwallis at, 121. 

New England, Captain Smith's attempts to 
plant a colony in, 33, 34; colonization of, 
by Pilgrims, 49 ; settlements in, 59. 

New Jersey, Washington in, 119; forced 
from the British, 121. 

New Mexico, 207. 

New Orleans, defense of, 155; battle of, 158, 
159; capture of, 184. 

New York, discovered by Henry Hudson, 
45 ; colonized by the Dutch, 48 ; English 
expedition against, 119; occupied by the 
English, 122; Washington's feigned at- 
tack on, 123; inauguration of Washing- 
ton in, 126. 

North America discovered by John Cabot, 
20. 

North Carolina, the Boones in, 135. See 
also Carolina. 

Nova Zembla, Henry Hudson at, 44. 

Ohio River, English settlers in the valley 
of the, 106. 



"Old Hickory," a nickname given to Gen- 
eral Jackson, 155, 160. 
Open Door, the, Indian prophet, 148, 150. 
"Oregon Country," the, 205, 206. 
Oregon River discovered, 205. 

Pacific Ocean, attempts to reach the, by 
Captain Smith, 26, 30; by Henrj' Hud- 
son, 45, 47. See also under Asia and 
India. 

Panama Canal, 195-197. 

Pan-American Exposition, 192. 

Penn, William, 59-66 

Pennsylvania, founded by Penn, 59 ; named 
by Charles II, 64 ; growth of the colony, 
65 ; government of, by Penn's descend- 
ants, 66 ; settlement of, 135. 

Pensacola, capture of, 158. 

Perry, Oliver H. (commodore), at Lake 
Erie, 151. 

Petersburg, siege of, 184. 

Philadelphia, founding of, 64 ; public library 
started in, by Franklin, 97. 

Philip, King, Indian chief, 67-73 ; Captain 
Church in Philip's War, 74-79- 

Pilgrims, the, in Holland, 49; voyage to 
America, 50; landing at Plymouth, 51, 52. 

Pitt, Fort, 114. 

Pitt, William, Fort Pitt named after, 114. 

Pittsburg, 114. 

Plymouth, colony at, 34; named by John 
Smith, 51 ; settlement of Pilgrims at, 51, 
52; troubles with the Indians at, 54, 
56-58 ; want of food at, 55, 58. 

Pocahontas, the story of, 35-4°- 

Polk, James K., 169. 

Polo, Marco, 7, 11, 21. 

"Poor Richard's Almanac," 96. 

Portugal, king of, and Columbus, 4. 

Portuguese, attempts of the, to reach India, 
3, 42. 

Powhatan, Indian chief, 27, 28, 31, 35~40- 

Press, liberty of the, in the American colo- 
nies, 8g. 



214 



INDEX. 



Princeton, battle of, 121. 
Printing press of Franklin's time, 95 (illus- 
tration). 
Priscilla. See Mullins, Priscilla. 
Proctor, Henry A. (general), 151. 
Progress of our country, 197. 
Puritans. See Pilgrims. . 

Quakers, 60, 61 ; Penn's efforts in behalf of, 
64, 65 ; settlement in Pennsylvania, 64. 

Railways, steam applied to, 145. 

Read, Deborah, wife of Benjamin Franklin, 
92, 96. 

Rebecca. See Pocahontas. 

Rebellion. See Civil War. 

Red Eagle. See Weathersford. 

Religious liberty, in Holland, 49; sought in 
the American colonies, 64 ; in Virginia, 
129. 

Revolutionary War, French aid to the 
Americans in the, 99, 100, 122 ; Franklin's 
services in, 99, 100; its causes, 115, 116; 
Congress appointed, 116; battles at 
Lexington and Bunker Hill, 117; Boston, 
118; battles in New York and New Jer- 
sey, 119; battle of Trenton, 119, 120; 
battle of Princeton, 121; Cornwallis in 
the South, 122; battle of York town, 123, 
124; Indian aid to the English, 139; in 
the South, 153. 

Richmond, battle near, 183; siege of, 184; 
Lee's retreat from, 185. 

Rolfe, John, married to Pocahontas, 38, 39. 

Roosevelt, Theodore, 193. 

Rumsey, James, his steamboat, 141. 

Russia, purchase of Alaska from, 207. 

St. Clair, Arthur (general), 146. 

St. Louis, Exposition at, 193. 

San Salvador discovered by Columbus, 10, 

II. 
Saunders, Richard. See Poor Richard's 

Almanac. 



"Sea of Darkness." See Atlantic Ocean. 

"Seventeen Fires," name given by the In- 
dians to the United States, 147. 

Sheridan, Philip H., 184. 

Sherman, W. T., 184; his march to the sea, 
184, 185. 

Shiloh, battle of, 183. 

Slavery in the United States, 179; anti- 
slavery movement, 180; cause of the civil 
war, 182; abolished in the United States, 
185. 

Smith, Captain John, 23-28; more about 
him, 29-34; Smith and Pocahontas, 35, 
36, 39, 40; his return to England, 37; 
letter to Hudson concerning a passage to 
the Pacific Ocean, 45 ; at Plymouth, 51. 

South America, attempt to reach India by 
way of, 16; discovered by Columbus, 20; 
Spanish possessions in, 25. 

Spain, Columbus's plans rejected in, 4 ; his 
plans accepted, 6 ; expedition fitted out 
under Columbus, 8; discoveries in Amer- 
ica, 10, II, 13, 16; possessions in South 
America, 25 ; possessions in the West In- 
dies and Central America, 42 ; war with 
England, 103 ; aid to England in the war 
of 1812, 158; Spaniards in Florida and 
Mexico, 157, 206 ; Florida purchased frorn, 
iS9j 206; war with, 186. 

Spaniards. Spanish. See under Spain. 

"Spice Islands" of Asia, attempts to reach 
the, 18. 

Spitzbergen, Henry Hudson at, 44. 

Squanto, Indian, ^s, 55, 56. 

Stamp Act, the, 128. 

Standish, Myles, 49-53 ; Standish and the 
Indians, 54-59. 

State rights, doctrine of, 182. 

Steam applied to railways, 145. 

Steam engine, invention of the, 141. 

Steamboats, experiments and trials, 141, 
142 ; built by Fulton, 143, 144. 

Steamers, ocean, 145. 

Stonewall Jackson. See Jackson, Thomas J. 



INDEX. 



215 



Sumter, Fort, 182, 183. 
Susan Constant (ship), 25. 
Susquehanna Indians, 80. 

Taxation of the American colonies, 115, 
116. 

Tea, tax on, 115, 116. 

Tecumseh, Indian chief, 147, 156; General 
Harrison's council with, 148, 149 ; made 
brigadier general in the British army, 
150; at Fort Meigs, 151; death of, 152. 

Telegraph, the electric, 161; Morse's ex- 
periments on, 163-167 ; appropriation 
made by Congress for, 168; submarine 
cables, 169, 170. 

Telephone, the, 170, 190. 

Tennessee, settlement of, 114, 154; Daniel 
Boone in, 135. 

Texas, annexed to the United States, 206; 
Mexican War, 207. 

Thames, battle of the, 151. 

Tippecanoe, Tecumseh at, 14S; battle of, 
149, 150. 

Trenton, the British at, 119; battle of, 120; 
Washington's reception in, 125. 

United States, growth of the, 198-20S. 

Vail, Alfred, and the electric telegraph, 163- 

167. 
Vincennes, council of General Harrison with 

Tecumseh at, 148; capture of, 201. 
Virginia, Indian wars in, 40, 80, 82, 83 ; 

inheritance of land in, 102, 129; Corn- 

wallis in, 122; religious liberty in, 129; 

battles in, during the civil war, 183. See 

also under Jamestown. 



Wampanoags, the, Indian tribe, 67. 

Wampum, 69, 70; wampum belts, 66, 70 
(illustrations). 

War of 1812, Meigs besieged, battle of Lake 
Erie, battle of the Thames, 151 ; Indian 
aid to the English, 150-152, 158; defense 
of New Orleans, 155; battle of New Or- 
leans, 158, 159. 

Warfare, Indian methods of, 70, 71, 74. 

Washington, George, youth of, 102-109 ; 
in the French War, 109-114; in the 
Revolution, 11 5-1 21 ; the victory at York- 
town and Washington as President, 122- 
126. 

Washington, battles between Washington 
and Richmond during the civil war, 183 ; 
Confederate victories, 184. 

Watt, James, 141, 143. 

Wayne, Anthony, 146. 

Weapons used by the Indians, 55, 69. 

Weathersford (Red Eagle), Indian chief, 
156, 157- 

West, the, settlers in, 186; the British 
driven from the Western forts, 189; ex- 
plorations by Lewis and Clark, 205. 

West Indies, discoveries in the, 10, 11, 13, 
16; Spanish possessions in the, 42. 

Weymouth, settlement at, 57. 

William III, King of England, 66. 

Wisconsin, 147. 

Yadkin River, the Boones at the, 135. 

York, Duke of, befriends William Penn, 
62, 63; aids the Quakers, 64; becomes 
King of England, 65. See also James 
II. 

Yorktown, battle of, 123, 124. 



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